How blogs and websites differ

Websites are key elements of the Internet with much of our time on the net spent browsing different sites. However, we also often read blogs on the net or even have our own personal blogs. What are the differences between the two?

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All blogs are websites but not all websites are blogs. Usually businesses will have websites where they provide information to consumers about their products. A huge website is Amazon.com the large online retailer. Blogs on the other hand are often run by individuals . They can serve many purposes sometimes acting as a type of online diary or as a regular commentary on events. Blogs are usually updated with new material regularly whereas a website is often static with information updated only as required.

Websites and Blogs

Wikipedia describes a website as follows: "A website[1] or Web site is a collection of related network web resources, such as web pages, multimedia content, which are typically identified with a common domain name, and published on at least one web server. Notable examples are wikipedia.org, google.com, and amazon.com. Websites can have many functions and can be used in various fashions; a website can be a personal website, a corporate website for a company, a government website, an organization website, etc. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, ranging from entertainment and social networking to providing news and education. "

Any device which can connect to the Internet can access a website. These devices would include desktop or laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, or smart TVs.

Wikipedia describes blogs as follows: "A blog (a truncation of the expression "weblog")[1] is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order, so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the web page. Until 2009, blogs were usually the work of a single individual,[citation needed] occasionally of a small group, and often covered a single subject or topic. In the 2010s, "multi-author blogs" (MABs) emerged, featuring the writing of multiple authors and sometimes professionally edited. MABs from newspapers, other media outlets, universities, think tanks, advocacy groups, and similar institutions account for an increasing quantity of blog traffic. The rise of Twitter and other "microblogging" systems helps integrate MABs and single-author blogs into the news media. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog."

Unlike many websites blogs usually have a comments section as they are often but not always designed to promote discussion of issues. In the earlier days of the Internet blogs were a fairly clearly defined type of website but nowadays the distinction is perhaps a bit more blurred. Often a business will have a blog as a part of its website in order to discuss issues make announcements or get feedback from its customers.

Twitter is an example of what is called a microblog . A microblog is a blogging platform where the amount of information that can be shared per author is either enforced to be very short, or just typically very short. Twitter entries called tweets are limited at present to 140 characters. Tumblr is another example.

There are many different free website builders that will help build your own website. Here is a link to one. The site ranks and compares the advantages and different advantages of each site. The sites also have paid versions that provide much more in the way of services. A recent list of free blog builder sites are listed at techradar. Some sites are on both lists such as Word Press and Wix.

Published earlier in the Digital Journal

Provincial Afghan governor claims billions stolen by local officials from former US Afghan base

Rahman Samkanai, governor of Paktita province in the east of Afghanistan claims that billions of dollars worth of equipment has been stolen by local officials and others from a camp the US handed to Afghan forces back in 2014.

Many officials involved in plundering the base

The Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) based called Camp Kearney is just a five-minute drive east of the governor's compound. Samkanai said that many officials took material from the remains of the base after it was handed over to the Afghans by the US. Samkanai said: “There was equipment worth seven billion dollars at the PRT base and all of them were looted. Former governors, commanders, mayors, directors, parliament members all are involved in this act. They entered the PRT base and looted it. Based on my information, they even looted locked containers full of computers, weapons, and even Humvees and Pickup vehicles had existed at the base.” The governor said everyone has been entering the base since it was handed over by t the Americans and taking everything that was not nailed down.

Samkanai took office of governor of Paktika just four months ago. He did not name anyone specifically who had been involved in theft from the base.

Even the Paktika police chief, Gen. Ghulam Lewanai , admitted that military equipment at the base is missing. Lewanai said: “I have shared the issue with the Ministry of Interior and the issue was also discussed in the provincial administration session and was also discussed in the coordination council that old equipment is on the verge of destruction, so let’s use the equipment for strengthening our strongholds instead of being destroyed by dust.”

The response of a local resident

Paktita resident Yaqub Manzoor said:" According to fresh information, equipment worth $1billion still exist at the base and the rest of are either broken, looted or stolen. There is also some information that some Humvees have been sent and sold to Pakistan as iron parts."

No sign yet that the Afghan government will take action against the looters

While there was no sign that most of the removal of material was legal or authorized it is not at all clear that the Afghan government intends to charge anyone as a result of the thefts. It is reasonably clear that the looting was done by officials with access to the materials. It is not clear who has the looted goods. Although the Afghan government might recover some of the pilfered material if it tried no doubt much is already sold off. The responsible officials could remain untouched as the government does not want to start political conflict.

The appended video shows the dismantling of the main UK Afghan base. The UK appears to have taken much equipment and material back to the UK rather than give it to the Afghans.

Previously published in the DIgital Journal

Russia develops drone with a shotgun to shoot down other drones

The Russians have developed a drone with a shotgun mounted on its frame designed to shoot down other drones. The drone appears to have begun development in 2016 by a group of students at Moscow Aviation Institute.

Development of the drone

One big problem with mounting shotguns on drones is that the recoil can have disastrous effects on the drone's operation making the drone an impractical weapons platform. However, the students seem to have been able to develop stabilizing mechanisms to offset the recoil and improve the accuracy of the weapon.

Almaz-Antey a Russian arms manufacturer now has a patent for the design and created the prototype of the drone.

The drone characteristics

An endgadget article describes the drone: "No, this isn't an April Fool's joke: A Russian defense contractor has patented a drone that uses a shotgun to blast other drones out of the sky. It comes from Almaz Antey, a Russian defense contractor that manufactures the S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile that caused a rift between Turkey and the US. The tail-sitting drone takes off on the spot but flies like an airplane for greater efficiency, giving it a 40-minute range while packing a fully-automatic Vepr-12 shotgun with a 10-round magazine."

Drone counter defenses

Militaries around the world are already using drones in war to attack terrorists, or drop explosives on enemy forces or for surveillance purposes. They can even be used for propaganda purposes showing the results of attacks. This has resulted in a search for counter-defenses and a market for any defenses developed. The Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College found that there were at least 235 counter drone defenses already on the market or being developed.

The most common defenses are jamming mechanisms. Other methods considered are more exotic such as microwave cannon, nets, and even birds of prey. The shotgun drones seem a direct way to counter the threat. Also, it does not require specialized launch facilities or equipment and could hunt down enemy drones quickly at least theoretically.

Sam Bendett of CNA a defense research and analysis organization says that the development of the system appears to be a result of Russia's concern with the use of drones by rebels in Syria. He says that Russia has used many types of electronic systems to counter the drones including stationary, portable, and mobile devices to counter the drones. The shot gun drone will just be one more weapon in their growing arsenal of counter drone weapons.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Facebook explored using a flock of small drones to increase phone data speeds

Facebook explored using a flock of small bird-sized drones to increase smartphone data speeds. The project, called "Catalina" was tested off the coast of California and was discontinued about a year ago.

Facebook has been exploring ways to increase mobile connectivity

The project was reported in the Business Insider. Facebook has been exploring ways to help increase mobile connectivity for years especially to bring more in developed countries to get online. While it could be seen as a humanitarian effort it also would help bring more into the company's app ecosystem.

The most visible Facebook projects have been its Internet.org initiative with its Free Basics and Express Wi-Fi for growing smartphone markets. There was also the discontinued Aquila project that was to fly large, solar-powered drones that could beam down Internet.

Catalina

A fleet of the bird-sized drones would be used to boost smartphone data speeds. The project was carried out in secret according to the Business Insider (BI). A recent Verge article says: "BI reports that the drones would be closer to the size of a sparrow, making them almost pocket-sized. The goal would not be to beam down a functioning internet connection to completely remote areas, but instead to augment existing, 2G-level connections to allow smartphone users to stream video and perform other more data-intensive tasks. It’s not clear how exactly that would have worked. The report describes the drones as designed to carry “high-density solid state drives... that could then be used to ferry data,” so perhaps the drones would act as a mesh network of sorts between a grounded connection and a user’s smartphone to facilitate high-bandwidth data transfers." Catalina is also described in this article.

Project Aquila

In March of 2015 Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg claimed there had been a successful test of a wide-wing solar-powered drone built to deliver wireless Internet services to remote locations. The test flight took place in the UK and was claimed to be a milestone in bringing online access to billions more people around the world. The drone has a wing span greater than that of a Boeing 737. The appended video from the summer of 2016 shows Aquila's first flight.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei posted record profits last year

The Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei announced that last year its revenues increase by 20 percent to $105 billion. At the same time profit rose by 25 percent to 8 billion.

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The New York Times notes that those results place Huawei in the same league as US giants Google and Microsoft both of whom also passed the $100 billion revenue mark last year.

Smartphone sales show massive growth

Huawei's smart phone division grew by a huge 45 percent. Huawei's consumer electronics unit made up almost half of the company's revenue in 2018. It generated about $52 billion in revenue. Phones such as the Mate 20 Pro and P20 Pro contributed to the big growth in sales.

Carrier technology division revenue fell

With the US pushing to have Huawei 5G technology banned by European and other countries the carrier technology division dropped revenues by some 1.3 percent. A recent Digital Journal article discusses the risks of Huawei technology. It is not only Huawei technology that is capable of being used for spying the article argues. It also discusses ways that risks can be managed without banning use of a company's technology.

A recent article notes: "The US is currently considering a ban, while a report produced by a UK government watchdog raised serious concerns about Huawei’s cybersecurity practices. Australia has also banned the use of the company’s equipment in its next-generation network, while the EU will leave the decision up to its individual member states." No doubt these moves also are contributing to the revenue loss of the division. However, Huawei claims that cybersecurity and user privacy protection are at the top of its agenda. The company has denied allegations that it would be willing to spy on behalf of the Chinese government.

Guo Ping, a rotating chair of Huawei admitted that US government criticism had created a certain amount of trouble for the company but downplayed security concerns. Ping said that US action s were like that of a rude dinner guest: . “We Chinese would say that they don’t mind their table manners. I feel very sorry for these so-called gentlemen.""

Ping also said to reporters at a press briefing: “The U.S. government has a loser’s attitude. It wants to smear Huawei because it cannot compete against Huawei.I hope the U.S. can adjust its attitude.”

Previously published in the DIgital Journal

Russia and US leaders in opposing a ban on autonomous weapons

Some activists are warning that the development of armies of fully autonomous robotic weapons could be only 3 or 4 years away. As a result some countries are attempting to place a ban on the weapons before they are an established fact.

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EU and UN both support a ban on robotic weapons

Many peace activists also support the ban including Jody Williams, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for leading efforts to ban land mines. Williams urged Germany to lead an international campaign to ban the so-called killer robots. She said that Germany should take steps to ensure that humans remain in control of all lethal weapons and they should not become autonomous.

A recent article notes that delegates have been meeting in Geneva at the UN in order to discuss potential restrictions under international law on the use of autonomous weapons systems that employ AI to decide when and where to kill. The article reports: "Most states taking part – and particularly those from the global south – support either a total ban or strict legal regulation governing their development and deployment, a position backed by the UN secretary general, António Guterres, who has described machines empowered to kill as “morally repugnant”"

As the appended image and video from 2015 show warnings about autonomous weapons have already been around for years.

US and Russia are leading opponents of the ban

Both countries oppose the ban or any limitations the would prevent them from building the robots. The UK, Israel and Austalia also oppose the ban. Opponents claim the ban is premature. However, if there is no ban there is likely to be an AI arms race.

While the UK Defense Ministry said it had no plans to develop fully autonomous killer robots they have announced that they already are in the process of developing killer drone swarms that theoretically could have full autonomy. There are fears that the US, which already has a huge number of attack drones, could decide to eliminate the human button pusher and simply let the drones decide whether to fire on the basis of its observations and algorithms that are used to determine its actions. Already drone operators may in effect leave the firing decision up to what a drone suggests on the basis of its observations.

A recent article notes: "Critics fear that the increasingly autonomous drones, missile defence systems and tanks made possible by new artificial intelligence could turn rogue in a cyber-attack or as a result of programming errors.

Previously published in DIgital Journal

Two US companies cooperate to produce robotic weeder

Farmwise Labs a Silicon Valley startup announced that they were teaming up with Roush a Michigan-based manufacturing and automotive company to produce autonomous vegetable weeders

The two companies will cooperate over the course of this year to create prototypes for self-driving robots able to self-navigate through crops and do weeding. If the project goes well they will scale up to produce additional units next year.

Farmwise and Roush

Farmwise Labs was founded back in 2016 and builds adaptive robots for agriculture. The company is supported by a team of 20 AI and farming experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Stanford, and Columbia universities. The company develops autonomous machines to produce greater yields, increase profits, and be better for the environment. Currently, the company is tackling the problem of weeding on vegetable farms which up to now has involved extensive use of chemicals and often intensive labor. The company is supported by private funding. It collaborates with growers in developing its products.

Roush a subsidiary of Roush Enterprises Inc. is a product-development supplier with headquarters in Livonia Michigan. Since 1976 the company has grown so that it now has 4,000 employees and has facilities throughout North America, Europe and Asia. The company is widely known for providing engineering, testing, prototyping and manufacturing services to various areas including mobility, aerospace, and defense industries. It has several corporate subsidiaries including Roush Clean Tech that develops and manufactures alternative fuel systems for the fleet vehicle market.

Weeding robots could be a major help for Michigan farmers

The robots will be designed to carry out high-precision weeding and thinning. They will be able to operate around the clock saving the farmers from performing the time-consuming task. The robots will be built so that they can be adapted to work on different crops without difficulty.

Automation on the farm is not new

In the appended video an already existing autonomous weeder is shown at work. Many farms use robots to perform tasks such as seeding fertilization and chemical application. In the UK in 2017 researchers managed to sow and harvest a barley field using only robots.

An article from a few years ago describes an example of use of robots in the US: "In Iowa, there's a 3,000-acre farm that uses machines to accomplish most tasks, from seeding to fertilizing and chemical application. This land, owned by the Mitchell family, is known as one of the most mechanized farms in the United States, and it's far from being unique. The Mitchells and their equally high-tech neighbors are some of the top corn producers in the US, thanks to their machines. But more and more farmers in the country are also turning to agricultural robots, as laborers start dwindling in number and demands for crops and produce continue to grow. "

In places where labor is in short supply, autonomous robots may be able to increase production and meet the increasing demand for agricultural products.

Previously published in Digital Journal

Last year global warming emissions reached a record level

The International Energy Agency reported on Tuesday March 26 that global warming emissions reached a record level last year in spite of efforts in the US, Europe, and China to reduce emissions through cleaner power and sales of more electric vehicles

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The International Energy Agency (IEA) data

Greenhouse gas emissions increased quicker last year than any of the past six years. Globally emissions of carbon-dioxide gas rose 1.7 percent in 2018 to 33.1 million tons. Almost two thirds of the growth resulted from generating electricity according to the IEA report. However, that increase was less than the total increase in energy demand which rose 2.3 percent last year. Renewable energy production makes up the difference.

IEA executive director Faith Birol said: “We have seen an extraordinary increase in global energy demand in 2018, growing at its fastest pace this decade. Despite major growth in renewables, global emissions are still rising, demonstrating once again that more urgent action is needed on all fronts.”

As electric car (EV) sales increase, it will become even more critical to also reduce global warming emissions from power plants. Renewable energy demand increased by 4 percent last year, while demand for natural gas rose 4.6 percent.

The record of various countries

The EU and Japan were both leaders in reducing greenhouse emissions. Europe reduced emissions by 1.3 percent and Japan's emissions declined for the fifth year in a row. On the other hand, China, India, and the US all had increases in energy demand and accounted for fully 70 percent of world demand for energy.

US emissions increased by 3.1 percent last year, reversing the trend towards decreases in 2016 and 2017. Chinese emissions rose by 2.5 percent and India even more at 4.5 percent but from a smaller base.

For the first time, the IEA assigned a percentage of global temperature increase to fossil fuel use. It claimed that burning coal was responsible for 30 percent of the 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit in global temperatures since pre-industrial times.

Study shows dealing with global warming ahead of time will save a great deal of money

The study in the Journal Nature, published in February actually estimates how much money can be saved if we take action right now to mitigating global warming and its effects. This could be done by such actions as providing incentives for people to buy electric cars and increase solar and other clean energy production installations. The study estimates it would cost about $20 trillion less to take such preventative action than to adapt to the effects of global warming later.

The appended video shows the effect of global warming on the Svalbard Seed Bank or DoomsDay vault as it is known. A recent article also talks about the issue.

Previously published in Digital Journal

Seven people killed as missile lands near hospital in northwest Yemen

(March 27) Seven persons were killed including four children in an air raid in which a missile landed near a hospital in rural northwest Yemen according to a report from Save the Children.

Missile lands close to the hospital

The agency also claimed that two adults were not accounted for. The organization said a missile hit a gasoline station near the entrance to Kitaf rural hospital about 100 km from the city of Saada. The missile was said to have landed within 50 meters of the main building. The agency said the hospital had just been open for half an hour when the missile struck at about 9:30 AM local time.

Many patients and staff were arriving on a busy morning. Among those killed were a health worker and the worker's 2 children as well as a security guard.

The group demanded an immediate investigation of the incident. Helle Thorning-Schmidt, CEO of the agency said that the grouphtt was shocked and appalled by the attack adding : "Innocent children and health workers have lost their lives in what appears to been an indiscriminate attack on a hospital in a densely populated civilian area. Attacks like these are a breach of international law." Thorning-Schmidt said the hospital is one of many that Save the Children supports in Yemen.

The Saudis have yet to comment on the attack but as a recent article notes: "This is likely to be one of those Saudi attacks met with blanket denials or silence, as some early media coverage referred to the strike as a “missile,” and may allow them to falsely accuse the Shi’ite Houthi movement of attacking a hospital in the predominantly Shi’ite area. "

Save the Children estimates that an average 37 Yemeni children are killed or injured every month in air attacks in the last year.

Thousands of Yemeni civilians killed in air raids

The air raids are carried out by a coalition led by the Saudis and UAE and have hit schools, hospitals and even wedding parties and a bus carrying children. Thousands of Yemeni civilians have been killed.

Mark Lowcock of the UN said that about 80 percent of the Yemeni population about 24 million people need humanitarian assistance with almost 10 million near the famine stage, and 240,000 facing catastrophic levels of hunger. Thorning-Schmidt called for an immediate suspension of arms sales to the warring parties and for more diplomatic pressure to end the conflict.

As the appended video, from the summer of 2016, shows this is not the first attack by the Saudi-led coalition that has targeted a hospital.

Previously published in Digital Journal

US consumer confidence dropped for fourth time in five months in February

(March 26) US consumer confidence dropped for the fourth time in five months as outlook suggest weak first-quarter growth and slower job increases in February negatively impact on attitudes and spending.

Conference Board index slumps

The Board's index dropped to 124.1 from its previous 131.4 the New York based group announced in a report Tuesday March 26. This was quite contrary to estimates by economists for Bloomberg which called for a rise to 132.5. The measure of views of the present situation has fallen to the lowest level in almost a year. The expectations index is also weaker.

Few new jobs in February

A recent article notes: " The pace of hiring in the U.S. slowed sharply in February as the economy added just 20,000 new jobs, marking the smallest increase in 17 months. The number of new nonfarm jobs created last month was well below the 172,000 MarketWatch forecast, but the slowdown was probably exaggerated by seasonal oddities that are unlikely to persist. The U.S. has been adding more than 200,000 new jobs a month for the past year."

Analysts are predicting the weakest economic growth this present quarter since back in 2016. As the price of gasoline rises, consumers will have less money to spend on other goods and services.

Reasons for more positive attitudes

Wage gains have been the best in a decade giving workers more to spend. Also, there has been a rebound in the stock market. The Federal Reserve, is going to be patient with respect to raising interest rates which could dampen expenditures.

The gloomy survey conflicts with the University of Michigan's preliminary measures of March attitudes which show an advance to the highest measure so far this year led by increases in outlooks both for incomes and the economy.

A Conference Board official's view

Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at the Conference Board said: “Confidence has been somewhat volatile over the past few months, as consumers have had to weather volatility in the financial markets, a partial government shutdown and a very weak February. The overall trend in confidence has been softening since last summer, pointing to a moderation in economic growth.”

Some detailed results

Respondents who said that jobs are plentiful went down from 45.7 percent to 42 percent. On the other hand, those claiming that jobs are hard to get climbed from 11.7 percent to 13.7 percent.

The labor differential measuring the gap between respondents claiming jobs are plentiful and those saying they are hard to get has fallen to the lowest since last July.

However, plans for buying both cars and homes has increased. As the appended video shows the Conference Board index is in contrast to that of the earlier released Consumer Sentiment

Previously published in DIgital Journal

EU Commission recommends that EU countries cooperate on cybersecurity issues

The European Commission has recommended that EU countries should cooperate together to deal with cybersecurity issues especially in connection with 5G networks. The Commission did not suggest a ban on Huawei products for which the US has been pushing.

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US has been pushing to drop Huawei from EU networks

The US pressure was discussed in a recent Digital Journal article: "The US upped pressure on Europe Wednesday to avoid turning to Huawei for 5G telecom infrastructure, with a top commander saying NATO forces would cease communicating with their German colleagues if Berlin teams up with the Chinese firm." Another recent Digital Journal article discusses in detail, with competing views, the issue of Huawei as a security threat and how the risk can be handled.

Exclusion of companies from 5G left to individual countries

The Commission's report suggests merely that the various EU countries carry out their own risk assessments and these would then be used to form an EU-wide assessment. However, the decision whether to exclude Huawei or others on national security grounds would be left to each country.

The US has already branded Huawei as a potential security threat claiming the company could be used by the Chinese government for espionage. It has already banned Huawei equipment from being used by the federal government. This has led to Huawei filing a lawsuit against the US government.

The Commission report puts a new obstacle in the way of the US campaign. Huawei has pointed out that the US has not produced any hard evidence of any wrongdoing by the country. The company by the way is not owned by the Chinese state but in a complex way by its workers.

Commission vice president statement

The vice president of the commission, Andrus Ansip said: ”5G technology will transform our economy and society and open massive opportunities for people and businesses. But we cannot accept this happening without full security built in It is therefore essential that 5G infrastructures in the EU are resilient and fully secure from technical or legal backdoors.”

The European Commission

Wikipedia describes the European Commission as follows: "The European Commission (EC) is an institution of the European Union, responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU.[2] Commissioners swear an oath at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg City, pledging to respect the treaties and to be completely independent in carrying out their duties during their mandate.[3] Unlike in the Council of the European Union, where members are directly and indirectly elected, and the European Parliament, where members are directly elected, the Commissioners are proposed by the Council of the European Union, on the basis of suggestions made by the national governments, and then appointed by the European Council after the approval of the European Parliament."

While US recognizes Israeli sovereignty of the Golan Heights it is strongly rejected by other countries

The US is the only country in the world so far to recognize Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights. The US recognition may not have much effect on international recognition but could be of some help in electing Netanyahu.

Trump's statement

Trump on Thursday said the US should recognize Israeli control of the Golan Heights territory. This could be seen as a diplomatic win for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu as he faces a difficult re-election race. Trump said: “After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights.” Trump claimed the territory located between Israel and Syria was of critical strategic and security importance to Israel and regional stability.

French reaction

France reacted to Trump's announcement saying that it does not recognize the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights and its recognition called for by US president Trump. The French Foreign Ministry said on Friday that such recognition was contrary to international law.

In a daily briefing the ministry said: “The Golan is a territory occupied by Israel since 1967. France does not recognize the Israeli annexation of 1981.The recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, occupied territory, would be contrary to international law, in particular the obligation for states not to recognize an illegal situation."

The ministry added that UN Security Council resolutions ruled that the Israeli annexation was null and void.

European Council reaction.

Donald Tusk President of the European Council said on Friday that the EU position on the Golan Heights was well known and that was that it did not recognize the sovereignty of Israel over the territory which had been seized in war. When asked to comment on Trump's announcement Tusk said: “The EU’s position is well know and has not changed.”

So far the US is the only country outside of Israel to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the area.

Netanyahu not surprised by the announcement

The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had been putting pressure on Trump over several weeks in order to bolster his re-election campaign. It is not clear what Trump hopes to get out of the announcement. He insists that he was not trying to bolster Netanyahu's election campaign. However, Trump is known to not always tell the truth.

Netflix testing cheap plan for mobile devices in India

Netflix is testing a new mobile-only subscription plan in India and other select countries that will cost only $3.63 a month only half the cost of Netflix's basic streaming plan in India which at $7.27 covers all devices as reported by Variety.

Netflix statement

Netflix said to Verge: “We are always looking for ways to make Netflix more enjoyable and accessible. We will be testing different options in select countries, where members can, for example, watch Netflix on their mobile device for a lower price and subscribe in shorter increments of time.” The last part of the statement suggests that Netflix may start to allow weekly or biweekly plans as well as monthly plans. Netflix would not say what other countries than India would share the test.

Netflix is also testing a replay function that has drawn negative reactions from a number of users so that it may turn out not to be a permanent feature or could be just an option.

Netflix has expressed interest in India

It makes sense that the test would be made in India a place where Netflix has expressed interest. Just last week Netflix product Vice President, Toddy Yellin gave a keynote address in Mumbai describing the countries plans to extend interactive TV shows with expanded content from India. Yelling pointed out the success that Netflix has already had with the India-based series Sacred Games about a police officer chasing a crime overlord. The series was popular not only in India but with audiences abroad.

A recent Verge article reporting on Yelllin's speech: "Netflix plans to make more interactive TV shows after Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, the Choose Your Own Adventure-style program, found international success, Netflix product VP Todd Yellin said in Mumbai at a keynote presentation on Tuesday, as reported by Variety. “It’s a huge hit here in India, it’s a huge hit around the world, and we realized, wow, interactive storytelling is something we want to bet more on,” he said. “We’re doubling down on that. So expect over the next year or two to see more interactive storytelling.”"

Previously published in Digital Journal

New Zealand mosque attacker may have had ties with the Ukrainian Azov battalion

The are possible links between the New Zealand mosque attacker Brent Tarrant and a Ukrainian ultra-nationalist white supremacist paramilitary group called the Azov Battalion.

The Azov Battalion

The Azov Battalion is described by Wikipedia in part: " In 2014, it gained notoriety after allegations emerged of torture and war crimes, as well as neo-Nazi sympathies and usage of associated symbols by the regiment itself, as seen in their logo featuring the Wolfsangel, one of the original symbols used by the German Nazi Party. In 2014, around 10-20% of the unit were neo-Nazis.[9] The U.S. Congress passed legislation in 2018 blocking military aid to Azov on the grounds of its white supremacist ideology.[10][11] At the same time, members of the regiment come from 22 countries and are of various backgrounds.[12]"

The Daily Telegraph claims that the Azov Battalion's extremist politics and professional English social media pages have attracted foreign fighters. This includes people from Brazil, Ireland, Italy, UK, France, the US, Greece, Sweden, Spain and Russia.

The Azov Battalion appears to be emerging as a critical node in the global right-wing violent extremist movement (RWE) as shown by the presence of foreign fighters from numerous nations who are trained in the battalion. The group retains its own Western Outreach Office used to help recruit and attract foreign fighters. The foreigners travel to train and connect with the group. Operatives from the Outreach Office travel around Europe to promote the Battalion and its white supremacy ideology.

The group has also established youth camps, sporting recreation centers, and far-right education programs.

Tarrant's connection to the Azov Battalion

Tarrant's manifesto claims he visited the Ukraine during his many travels abroad. The flak jacket that Tarrant wore during his assault has the Wolf's angel symbol one of the early symbols of the Nazi party and used by the Azov Battalion. Tarrant claimed that he was also in touch with the Anders Breivik the Norwegian terrorist. He also visited sites where there were historic battles between Christians and Muslims no doubt prompted by and reinforcing his anti-Muslim views. It remains to be seen if there is evidence of further ties between Tarrant and the Azov Battalion.

The phenomenon of foreign fighters

While foreign fighters are often associated with jihadists such as ISIS, foreign fighters exist across many different ideologies and groups. There are foreign fighters assisting the Kurds for example in Syria. Shia militants travel from several countries to fight in Syria. The outreach of the Azov Battalion shows that now RWE networks are recruiting fighters worldwide to spread their cause.

Globalization of the RWE movement

The Azov Battalion is forging links with other RWE groups and has hosted visits from ultra-nationalist organizations such as members of the Rise Above Movement (R.A.M.) in the US and also British National Action from the UK. Several R.A.M. members in the US were recently indicted by the FBI for their role in violently attacking counter-protesters during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA in August of 2017

Tarrant was not just a lone actor but someone who is the product of a broad network of right-wing violent extremists. If the evidence does ultimately show that Tarrant actually went to the Ukraine to train with like-minded people than this might be the first terrorist act of a foreign fighter trained by a right-wing terrorist group. Tarrant was not a New Zealand citizen. The international community needs to realize existence and danger of these networks.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Huawei CFO had 3 premium Apple products in her possession when arrested in Canada

When arrested in Canada on a US order, Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was carrying a 12-inch MacBook, an iPhone 7 Plus and an iPad Pro all premium products of Huawei's US competitor Apple.

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Wanzhou the daughter of the founder of Huawei was arrested back on December 1 last year at Vancouver International Airport. She remains under house arrest as extradition proceedings are ongoing.

Most tech companies don't require employees to use company-issued electronics. Microsoft and Google employees sometimes walk around with iPhones, MacBooks, and iPads. However, Huawei has publicly demoted employees for tweeting from an iPhone. So it is a bit embarrassing that a top official should be sporting several Apple products.

Verge claims Huawei laptop the best available

What bothers the Verge author that reported on the CFO's preference for Apple products is that Verge had recently evaluated the Huawei Matebook Pro X as the single best laptop available right now as reported in a recent Digital Journal article. It may be that Zhou prefers the Apple OS to Windows.

Zhou did have a Huawei phone as well

The Verge author does support Zhou's taste in Huawei phones. She was carrying a Huawei Mate 20 RS Porsche Edition. The Verge called the luxury version of the phone "the best America can't get" The iPhone 7 Plus could serve as an excellent mobile hotspot while she was in North America.

Zhou's arrest has heightened tensions between the US and Canada. The US charges have worsened relations with China even while important trade talks between the two countries are ongoing. China has sued the US over the banning of its products.

Zhou is also suing Canada for her arrest as shown on the appended video. It remains to be seen whether Meng will be extradited to the US to face charges there. She faces no charges in Canada.

Previously published  in Digital Journal

Dark Mode can help give your eyes a break

Dark mode allows you to change the color arrangements on an app or operating system that makes the background black or something close to it. The mode makes looking at the screen a bit easier on the eyes.

Dark Mode

Wikipedia describes dark mode as follows:

Light-on-dark color scheme, also called dark mode, dark theme or night mode, is a color scheme that uses light-colored text, icons, and graphical user interface elements on a dark background and is often discussed in terms of computer user interface design and web design... With the advent of teletext, research was done into which primary and secondary light colors and combinations worked best for this new medium...Cyan or yellow on black was typically found to be optimal from a palette of black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan and white.

Whether it is easier or healthier to read text on a dark background was disputed by vision and perception researchers; there was similar dispute between users.[citation needed] However, recent research by Popular Science proves that "Dark mode is easier on the eyes and battery" [1] and max white uses roughly six times as much power as max black on a Google Pixel (with an OLED, not an LCD) [2]

Where to find dark mode

At the operating level the mode can be found in Apple's macOS Mojave. It is also available in several popular apps including Slack, Twitter, and Google Chrome. However there are still many apps that do not have dark mode.

Third party workarounds

The Verge claims it is keeping track of all new developments. There may be some third part workarounds that you can use depending on your device. The third party apps may not work perfectly and app compatibility could vary.

IPhone's smart color inverter

The iOS 12 on iPhone does not officially support a dark mode. But it does offer a smart color inverter that achieves some of the same effects. The feature reverses the colors of the display, except for images, media and some apps that use dark colors.

Unlike some color inverters, it excludes certain elements on the screen from being inverted. It works well with Apple's own pre-installed apps, along with apps that support dark mode, such as You Tube. However, on some apps such as Apple Maps and others that do not have dark mode, everything will be inverted. This article describe how to turn color inverter on.

IOS 13 may have full support for dark mode

Full support for dark mode may come once iOS 13 is released Bloomberg reported in January. The support may be like that of the macOS Mojave working at the operating system level, and impacting the IOS interface. It could even allow third-party apps to run in dark mode. Google Chrome and Firefox apps switch to dark mode on automatically when the dark mode setting is activated on Mojave.

Already a growing list of apps that includes, Facebook Messenger, You Tube Twitter and others support dark mode on IOS. However, for now you cannot switch on dark mode system wide.

Previously published in Digital Journal