North Carolina senator Richard Burr has demonstrated his disregard for the constituents he serves multiple times, and his ignorance related to technology issues proves that he doesn’t care enough about those he represents enough to educate himself on important issues. The most striking example of this was his prominent role in trying to force Apple to write a new, parasitic version of iOS that would’ve allowed the FBI access to the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, but would have come at the expense of every iPhone and iPad user’s privacy, as it would’ve created the possibility of unauthorized backdoor access for every modern iOS device in the world.

Contributing to his prior displays of technological ignorance is this pandering tweet:

As 5G networks become a reality, it’s critical we get them right. I appreciate @AjitPaiFCC working with Sprint and T-Mobile to make sure rural areas will be widely connected under 5G and that America continues to lead on this next frontier.

It’s clear based on his tweet that he does not understand 5G technology on a fundamental level. While it will increase upload/download speeds, the primary benefit of 5G is that these networks will be capable of delivering fast internet connections to enormous groups of people in the same area: think of times where your phone is practically incapacitated by the number of other devices trying to connect to the internet. Some good examples where 5G would be most helpful include times when you’re at a concert, or in the middle of Manhattan, or at a football game. These are the instances where 5G will shine—when there are thousands of devices in the same spot all vying for a connection.

While it will help everyone, the 5G rollout should absolutely NOT focus on rural areas, because that is exactly the opposite of where its deployment will be most beneficial; they should give top priority to urban areas, because to do anything else would be to ignore the true nature of the technology they’re racing* to implement.

*A race which, despite Mr. Burr’s nationalistic allusion, we are losing.

An absolutely scathing but completely honest summary of Facebook’s history. If you value privacy, democracy, or freedom of the press, read this article from Wired. Then delete your Facebook account.  

Still not convinced? Try this fun tip: request a copy of facebook’s data profile for your account. It includes heaps of information including all your private messages, advertising demographic data, IP addresses, your GPS coordinates from every time you’ve logged in, and more. Additionally, you’ll see a list of advertisers to whom they’ve sold all of this information without your consent. Facebook is a criminal enterprise. Delete your account. 

#deletefacebook

I will preface this by saying I am NOT a Trump fan.

This is disgusting, hateful, and valueless. The author does nothing more than volley personal attacks based on physical characteristics. It’s low hanging fruit, and the “journalist” who wrote this piece, Kenzie Bryant of Vanity Fair, should be ashamed.

I read this article thinking the whole time about how close-minded and problematic it is (not a footnote or linked source in sight), without looking to see who wrote in until the end. 

But Buttigieg is no longer operating in good faith. Now he’s attacking Christians who disagree with his policies and support Trump

You gotta love some good ol’ pandering and fear mongering with no evidence—one of Mr. Shapiro’s many specialties in the realm of toxic journalism, it seems.  

Everyone should look into (and subscribe to) Apple’s new subscription service for news. It’s called Apple News+, and it’s only $9.99/month. That price offers complete access for everyone in your family to the Wall Street Journal, the LA Times, and over 300 magazines (including People, National Geographic, Time, Forbes, ESPN, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Field & Stream, and tons of other well known publications that people care about). You can start with a one month free trial. 

A lot of people see this as just another way for Apple to milk customers for money, and they announced a lot of services at their March 2019 event that seem that way, but I really think this is the most important thing they announced. There is no similar service to this on the market today. It comes at a really crucial time when people are using the Internet to try and keep themselves informed about the world, but don’t realize that what they’re being sold as news, is really only repackaged hype intended to drive further engagement with the platform serving it up (see: Facebook) for the purpose of boosting ad revenue through ever increasing volumes of clicks, likes, comments, and shares.

Companies like this don’t care that the articles people are sharing on their platforms are often devoid of actual facts and usually have no legitimate sources for the “information” they present. Because of social media’s tendency to prioritize monetization over the truth and journalistic integrity, people in the US and in the world are being driven further and further to each end of the political spectrum, and people are becoming significantly less tolerant of people who have beliefs only slightly different than their own. And in more extreme cases, we’re seeing foreign and domestic terror groups pop up that exist to incite violence and spread hatred, and in many cases they attribute the sources that lead to their indoctrination to misinformation campaigns and sensational headlines that were fed to them by Facebook, YouTube, and other companies. I mean, literal NAZIS are making a comeback, for god’s sake. 

In addition to their commitment to journalistic integrity, Apple has made their news platform secure, so that you know from a privacy standpoint you’re getting the best of the best, and that the headlines you read won’t follow you across the Internet for advertisers to use to target you based on your interests or beliefs.

*Please note that I am not still employed by Apple and there is no direct benefit for me to promote this, I just think it’s really important. Also, delete your Facebook accounts.

#deletefacebook