This (and Last) Week In Tech News [15 Dec 2017]
This Week In Tech News is a weekly segment released on Fridays highlighting the most important, popular, and interesting technology related news stories of the past week. Written and curated by Scott Schilder and presented by Cyber Tech Cafe. If you have an idea for a story to highlight please share it with us on Twitter.
**Note** Due to inclement weather, there was no “This Week In Tech News” article for 8 Dec 2017. This article will cover news events that took place during this past week, and the week prior ( Dec 4th – Dec 15th)
Net Neutrality, Net Neutrality, Net Neutrality, Oh My! – These past 2 weeks has been on fire with talks of the upcoming FCC vote on whether to repeal or leave in place the current Net Neutrality rules governing ISPs in America. As the average internet user, it would be difficult for you to be online, do anything, and not be inundated with notices about Net Neutrality. Over the past 2 weeks we saw a surge in the number of high profile users who have came out against the repeal of the current Net Neutrality rules including “Father of the Internet” Vint Cerf, creator of the World Wide Web Tim Berners-Lee, and Apple Co-Founder Steve Wosniak. The vote was held Thursday December 14th and passed with a 3 – 2 decision to repeal the 2015 FCC regulations regarding Net Neutrality. While some see this is a victory for lessened government regulations, others are already in search of new ways to challenge the decision. Immediately following the passed vote many organizations vowed to bring legal action against the FCC or simply continue to fight for a free and open internet. The effects this decision will have on every day life on the internet is largely unknown at this point, but in the immediate, most experts on both sides of the debate will agree that an immediate change is not likely. So in short, buckle your seat belts kids, this stands to be a hot button issue for some time to come.
Bitcoin Continues to Increase in Value as Trading Surges – A recent increase in crypto currency trading has taken the economic world by storm and is likely the cause of the continued increase in Bitcoin’s price, up from $10,000 at the end last week to around $15,000 at this weeks end. The uniqueness of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies have made them very appetizing investments for the more risky personal investors. Large corporations on the other hand are certainly participating in the “wild west” that is crypto currencies, however many are playing it much safer, like MGT Capital Investments, the largest crypto currency mining operation in North America, who revealed this week that they immediately sell all coins mined through their operations rather than hold on to them as an investment. The world of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies can have a steep learning curve to get started, but many companies seek to make this process more user friendly. For those interested in Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, check out the following sources for further reading:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Main_Page
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/7gfkjq/rbitcoin_faq_newcomers_please_read/
https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-cryptocurrency/
Google and Amazon, Together At Last? – After several years of back and forth, the feud between Google and Amazon appears to be coming to an end. For the first time in several years, Amazon are allowing the sales of Google Chromecast devices on their website (previously sales of these devices were not allowed, presumably due to Amazon marketing their own competing product, the Amazon Fire TV). Additionally, Google and Amazon are in talks to bring continued support for the YouTube App on the Amazon Fire TV platform. The two companies are heavy rivals, not just selling competing streaming devices but also hosting their own competing content streaming services (Google Video and Amazon Prime Video), developing competing mobile phone operating systems, and offering highly competitive cloud hosting solutions (Google Cloud and Amazon AWS). Only time will tell how this relationship will play out, but for those of you on either side of this bicker fest, the notion that you might soon be able to get your favorite Google or Amazon services via the other’s service or hardware, will surely be something to feel good about.
Google Releases “Year in Search 2017” – For the 13th year in a row now Google has released its year end report on the most common search terms and most trending topics of the year to date. A video accompanies the plethora of data, number, and figures that Google released and adds a nice entertaining touch to the raw charts. The top 10 overall searches of the year are below. See the full year in search here.
Top 10 Google Searches Of 2017
1) Hurricane Irma
2) Matt Lauer
3) Tom Petty
4) Super Bowl
5) Las Vegas shooting
6) Mayweather vs McGregor fight
7) Solar eclipse
8) Hurricane Harvey
9) Aaron Hernandez
10) Fidget Spinner
As always, your participation is encouraged and we are eager to politely discuss any of the articles covered in the comments below or on any of our social media accounts. This weeks article was written and curated by Scott Schilder and presented by Cyber Tech Cafe. If you have an idea for a story to highlight please share it with us on Twitter. See you next Friday. Have a great week!