Kozminski Techblog

One more accident featuring an Uber driver has taken place. We have already heard numerous times of Uber or Lyft drivers being involved into sexual assaults, kidnapping cases, harassment incidents etc. (Who’s Driving You 2016) This time the story is about an Uber driver from Florida pointing a gun at his passengers.

Mr Fabry and his friends were picked up by an Uber driver, Mr Mcdonald. Mr Fabry felt sick on his way home so he asked to stop a car for a minute. When the driver stopped, Mr Fabry told him to continue as he felt better by then. That moment Mr Mcdonald tried to drag his passengers out of the car, telling Mr Fabry that he could not be sick in a $75 000 car. Then the driver took a gun and pointed it at Mr Fabry.

Later, McDonald admitted to police he was holding a gun but he refused the fact that he was pointing it at Fabry.

The police report stated that McDonald “grabbed it (the gun) because he was in fear for his life”. (Rawlinson 2016)

McDonald has already been released on bail.

Bill Gibbson, Uber spokesman said in his interview to the local paper that McDonald is not a part of the Uber’s team any more. (Irby 2016)

Does Uber seriously think that this is the only thing they can do?

All of these incidents are pushing away even the most loyal clients of Uber. The company should take serious measures to prevent future incidents. Testing mental health of the drivers might be an option.

The last thing to note, when a similar accident happens in Poland, I will better use a tram or metro.

References:

Irby K. (2016), Uber driver charged with pulling gun on passenger in Bradenton, Bardenton Herald, Available at: http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/crime/article56439200.html.

Rawlinson K. (2016), Uber driver ‘pulls gun’ on passenger in Florida, BBC, Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35410676.

Who’s Driving You (2016), Reported list of incidents involving Uber and Lyft,  Available at: http://www.whosdrivingyou.org/rideshare-incidents.

One more ecologically-friendly innovation is being presented to the public. This time we are fighting with draughts and trying to decrease our water consumption.

California-based engineers have invented a shower head that is able to change our way of taking a shower.

As shower technology has not experienced any dramatic changes during the last years engineers have found a place for improvement. Philip Winter and his team of Nebia shower head have chosen a shower as a home product which makes “people have an intimate emotional contact with water”. (Cave 2015)

Their innovation project has resulted in a shower head which transforms water streams in small droplets (“millions”). This technology gives a 10 times bigger surface of water while using just 30% of the volume.

This means that with Nebia a usual 8-minute shower will consume only 6 gallons of water. While an average US citizen usually uses around 20 gallons of water during his daily shower. (Williams 2015)

In addition, the firm states that the shower will make you save tremendous sums of money on water consumption. They say the shower pays off within two years already.

Nebia claims that their shower not only saves water and your money but also brings you skin softening and hydrating experience. Sounds reassuring. Although its price is not as pleasant: $399.

Saving the planet is always an urgent issue. But nobody wants to be the one to start with himself. Especially when it comes to paying $400 and my old shower does its work quite efficiently.

The success of the project might happen thanks to its future money saving. Prices for water consumption are rising in many countries. Here can be found a real reason to purchase a smart shower head.

But if I am taking a decision to buy something for $400 I want to be sure its a good product which is worth it. But how can I be sure about a shower head? How can I try it?

Here is Nebia’s food for thoughts.

References:

Cave J. (2015), Vaporizing Shower Head Will Change The Way You Wash Yourself, Huffington Post, Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nebia-shower-head_55f05bc0e4b03784e277636e.

Williams A. (2015), Tim Cook backs water saving shower head, GizMag, Available at: http://www.gizmag.com/nebia-water-saving-shower/38886/.

Although Christmas holidays are coming to its end, Whatsapp still has a gift for us. However, Apple or Microsoft might not be as happy about it as we are.

German website MacerKopf has leaked Whatsapp screenshots showing the video call feature. (MacerKopf 2015)

Whatsapp is a popular messaging service which has gathered more than 900 million users in six years and was purchased by Facebook for $19 billion.

Video call looks quite simple on the screenshots. But simplicity is what made Whatsapp so popular. MacerKopf also stated that the feature should be available already in January. (Kelly 2015)

In addition, an upcoming Whatsapp update shall also feature redesigning and desktop access. A new design is supposed to focus on green colours. (Gsmarena 2015)

Being able to use the app from your computer is quite a good idea. As it has been really annoying not to be able to access Whatsapp if your phone is not available.  Viber and Skype have the feature. Time for Whatsapp to join them.

Opinions tend to differ. Some users state that they will no longer need Facebook if Whatsapp is available on the web.

However, Facebook is not afraid of loosing its users due to Whatsapp updates. But Apple’s FaceTime and Microsoft’s Skype should get anxious. Will it ever be possible to challenge the dominance Facebook and Whatsapp with new users attracted by video calling and desktop access?

Future will show if the update will be successful for both Whatsapp and Facebook. What we can analyse now is our actual need for it.

Are we personally going to use Whatsapp video calls or are we too much used to Skype?

Are we going to use Whatsapp on our laptops or it will remain our quick messenger app for smartphones?

My personal answer to these questions is “No”.

Bibliography:

Gsmarena (2015), WhatsApp will support video calls in a few weeks, report claims, Available at: http://www.gsmarena.com/whatsapp_will_support_video_calls_in_a_few_weeks_report_claims-blog-15670.php .

Kelly G. (2015), Massive WhatsApp Update Starts Google, Microsoft, Apple Attack, Forbes, Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/12/26/whatsapp-video-calling-update/.

MacerKopf (2015), WhatsApp: Fotos zeigen Videochat, Tabs in Arbeit, Available at: http://www.macerkopf.de/2015/12/21/whatsapp-fotos-videochat-tabs-arbeit/.

As our life dramatically goes mobile, society is also craving for digital ways of identification of counterfeit products or documents.

Scientists from Birmingham have already started working on this issue.

A startup called RealTag has been created. It invented a mobile application which can differentiate between counterfeit goods and real ones. (BBC 2015)

Scientists have come up with a concept of a unique tag which manufacturers can attach to their products. The label should be impossible to copy. And a special app will be able to read it. Information about the tag will be referenced with a cloud-based database in order to confirm authenticity.

Founders came up with an idea of the project after becoming aware of the issue of counterfeit malaria treatments. Thousands of people die each year because of the use of fake drugs. (Security Document World 2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rHt12T2YoI

Commercial director of RealTag, David McGee said: “The first phase of the company was to deliver proof of concept. Phase two is now to prove that the product works, and works on a large scale and in an economically viable way.” (University of Birmingham 2015)

Counterfeiters try to adapt to anti counterfeiting solutions. As a result one brand from the sector of spirits spent £1.5 million on a counterfeiting solution which was copied within a month. RealTag claims that their branded app together with unique labels will be impossible to replicate.

Fighting with fake goods with the help of a device which each of us has in their picket is not a bad idea. Who would not want to avoid purchasing fake alcohol, clothing or drugs?

But how long will the app work without counterfeiters copying it?

To which extent will we trust the app?

And popularising such a tool for a crowd is another issue to be resolved.

Bibliography:

BBC (2015), Label allows smartphones to identify counterfeit goods, Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-35073351.

Security Document World (2015), Interview: David McGee on RealTag’s solution, Available at: http://www.securitydocumentworld.com/article-details/i/12456/.

University of Birmingham (2015), The Smart Way to Authenticity, Available at: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/business/news/2015/july/realtag.aspx.

A recent survey showed that more than 6000 Airbnb hosts were less likely to rent their properties to travellers with black-sounding names.

Airbnb is a website which enables people to rent each other’s rooms or entire homes. Service provides you with more than 2 million properties to choose from in more than 190 countries.

Room-sharing service has been receiving numerous racism claims lately. As a result a Harvard Business School researchers have conducted an investigation on racism presence on the online platform. It was found that people with African-American names are being discriminated.

Researchers have 20 created Airbnb profiles with white-sounding names and black-sounding names. (Nobel 2015) As a result, for white-sounding names, like Todd or Allison, there was 50% of success for an attempt to make a booking. On the other hand, black-sounding names, like Darnell or Tamika, had only 42% of success while trying to book their stay.

Researchers stated that racial discrimination does not exist in hotel industry where bookings are made without showing guest’s name or photo.

Airbnb has already made a statement admitting this global problem. The service has claimed that it is about to overcome these “significant challenges” and is looking for “anyone that can help us reduce potential discrimination in the AirBnB community”. (Warburton 2015)

Airbnb’s spokesman has noted that the website might introduce the feature of hiding real names, as e-mails and phones are already hidden. However, it was also stated that Airbnb service is not willing to stop making users use their real names as it preserves trust and confidence between travellers and landlords.

Airbnb wants to encourage guests to make instant bookings without asking for a prior approval.

Prof Ben Edelman, one of Harvard Business School researchers does not approve real-name policy of the website.

He stated: “They require you to reveal your name, but to what end? What good does that do? AirBnB says it increases accountability – but how does it?”

“It’s important that AirBnB know the person’s name, but we don’t think the prospective host needs to know the prospective guest’s name.” (Lee 2015)

What we can see is that racism still takes lot of place in our world. And and the problem is even bigger than we thought it is.

Discrimination of African-Americans was supposed do decrease with the popularisation of Internet. For example, you are not going to be racially discriminated while buying an item online. While it might not be the case in a physical store. But recent changes which aim to make the Internet a safer place require more personal information: real name, address, photo etc.

The real question is: do we want to fight racial discrimination or we want to feel safe online?

Bibliography:

Lee D. (2015), AirBnB racism claim: African-Americans ‘less likely to get rooms’, BBC, Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35077448.

Nobel C. (2015), This New Tool Helps Airbnb Hosts to Stop Being Racist, Forbes, Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2015/12/11/this-new-tool-helps-airbnb-hosts-to-stop-being-racist/.

Warburton D. (2015), AirBnB in racism row ‘as people with black-sounding names are snubbed from renting rooms’, Mirror, Available at: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/airbnb-racism-row-as-people-7002873.

All of us have started getting used to people wearing tech devices. After Apple Watch and Google Glass we are not surprised with new wearables. But the latest innovation can amaze anybody. Developed by software design and development firm Chaotic Moon in Texas, this device enables tracking health data.

Chaotic Moon has called the device Tech Tats. It is being made with conductive paint and special components which make it possible to gather and send the data regarding human body.

As the firm describes, “Tech Tats are what we’ve dubbed biowearables: wearable technology that isn’t just, say, strapped to the user’s wrist, but interacts with their wrist. (In this case, in the form of a tattoo.) In other words, you’re eliminating clunky, expensive devices with a low-interference, low-cost, and low-hassle alternative, and using the user’s skin as the interface. It’s technology that is, in a sense, part of the user. The result? Total integration.”

Technologists from Chaotic Moon state that the new tattoo will collect the information and notify about the earliest fever signs, heart rates and other health indicators.

Another interesting aspect is that this way you can also carry your credit card details and your ID – straight under your skin. Plus, the tattoo always acts as a GPS.

Imagine how easier life could be if we could quickly find people who get lost, make sure we are in good health and forget about carrying IDs or credit cards.

Sounds quite unrealistic for the nearest future. Or is it only my opinion?

The world of people with devices under their skin seems quite scary. What would be the next step? Tatoo that enables control of the person’s actions? Let’s just hope that our bright future will bring us only those innovations that will benefit humans’ life and peace on Earth.

Bibliography:

Acharya S. (2015), Tech Tats: Tattoos that can track your health data, International Business Times, Available at: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tech-tats-tattoos-that-can-track-your-health-data-1530743.

Lindig S. (2015), The Next Wave of Wearable Tech Will Surprise You, Elle, Available at: http://www.elle.com/culture/tech/a32202/tech-tats-temporary-tattoo-wearable-device/.

Breaking up is not an easy thing. Most of us know it. Especially when Facebook gets involved.

Who does not remember that feeling when you stumble across a picture of your ex chilling in a company of a new partner of an opposite sex? Or it gets even more brutal when you are scrolling down the news and notice your ex changing his relationship status to ‘in relationship’ or ‘married’. And then you realise you still have that old picture of you two living your ‘forever and always’ love story.

Facebook has announced the end to these weird moments of going through a break up. The world’s biggest social network is creating a new tool that will make your separation less painful.

From now on, if you wish to forget about somebody’s existence, you do not need to unfriend them. The worst part of unfriending has always been when the deleted person finds out what happened. The last thing we want is our ex to get the wrong impression. So Facebook blocking absolutely does not work for ‘playing it cool’.

Relationships on Facebook have become a big deal nowadays. It has been reported that a New York judge has confirmed the legality of sending divorce summons through Facebook. (Lee 2015).

Therefore, Facebook’s new tool filters what you and your ex can see without him/her knowing about it.

The tool allows us to:

“See less of a former partner’s name and profile picture around Facebook without having to unfriend or block them. Their posts won’t show up in News Feed and their name won’t be suggested when people write a new message or tag friends in photos.”

“Limit the photos, videos or status updates that a former partner will see.”

“Edit who can see their past posts with a former partner and untag themselves from posts with that person.”

(Winters 2015)

Facebook says that the new tool will be available globally soon. There already exists a possibility to try out the tool for US mobile users. If you are one, go ahead and share the experiences. But maybe breaking up with your partner is not really worth it.

“We hope these tools will help people end relationships on Facebook with greater ease, comfort and sense of control,” stated FB product manager. 

However, are we really ready to face the fact that Facebook starts managing our emotions?

Social media knows everything about what we need.

Facebook can now share our pain and help us heal it.

But, do we want this interference?

Maybe it is too late to make a choice. Social media has already been pulling the strings of our relationships for quite a while.

But isn’t it time to think about the extent of its control over our feelings?

Bibliography:

Lee D. (2015), Facebook tests ‘break-up’ tools, BBC News, Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34875474

Winters K. (2015), Improving the Experience When Relationships End, Facebook Newsroom, Available at: http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2015/11/improving-the-experience-when-relationships-end/

Young N. (2015), Facebook Wants To Help You Through Your Breakup, Refinery29, Available at: http://www.refinery29.com/2015/11/98040/facebook-breakup-tools

Sipping coffee and finishing breakfast I get my phone, click the button once and my taxi is ordered. In 4 minutes I am getting in my car with a driver offering me a bottle of water and asking for the music I would like to listen during the ride. This is how a morning routine looks like thanks to Uber. 5 minutes ago you were still reading Facebook news in your kitchen, and then you are already comfortably traveling to the point of your destination. Uber has become a real breakthrough. And for many people, just like me, it has changed the way we perceive taxi service.

But now, imagine for a second that while sipping your morning coffee you could just take your phone and in one click order your private jet. 50€ automatically taken from your card and you are already on your way to Berlin, chatting with a joyful pilot and overlooking your city from an angle you have never seen it before. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

But it is absolutely not a dream anymore. A flying service has already been created. It is just not popularised yet. Flying on a private jet for 50€ is a reality anybody has the opportunity to experience.
The new service is called Skyuber and it is focused on an idea of sharing cost of the flight between pilots and passengers. Although the name sounds similar, Skyuber has no connection with Uber and has different owners.

The process of ‘skyubering’ is quite easy. Pilots register in the application and share the flights they are planning to have. Then anybody willing to join the pilot is able to book his seat in the plane.
The aircrafts are usually GA or LSA aeroplanes and can fit two to four people inside. Once the booking is made the passenger is able to contact the pilot and arrange the meeting.
A BBC journalist has tried a flight with Skyuber himself and not all of his impressions were positive. As price for the flight is very low, the aircraft is really small and it has neither toilets nor air conditioning.

However, there is a contradictive point highlighted by various online articles. It is claimed that Skyuber is not completely legal. After checking on the issue by myself I was surprised to find the following information on the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s page: “This aims to allow cost sharing between friends and colleagues and not to provide an air taxi service to members of the public.” Therefore, the way Skyuber is operating in the UK remains a mystery for me. But it does operate there. I easily check this by downloading the app to my phone and seeing a flight to Glasgow.

Nevertheless, the main question is not about legality. It is obviously about safety. And what Skyuber states regarding safety regulations knocks me out. Skyuber claims to be just a booking medium and individual pilots are the ones responsible for safety. Skyuber just checks the license, medical certificates and documents for the aircraft. Then, the pilot decides if the aircraft is not broken and if the flight can be safe. Does not sound reassuring, does it? Last year’s incident with a Lufthansa’s plane crash comes to mind. A suicidal pilot just decided to make everybody join him on his plans. And it was a huge airline company. Who knows which kind of pilot you will be lucky enough to have with Skyuber.

Still and all, there are currently around 1,400 pilots operating, and around 7,000 would-be passengers. So not everybody is scared of taking risks. Would you?

Bibliography:

Ben (2015), Skyuber, Love Air Aviation & Aerospace, Available at: http://www.loveair.co.uk/blog/skyuber/.

Civil Aviation Authority, Guidance on cost sharing and introductory flights, Available at: https://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=224&pagetype=90&pageid=16888.

Pereira J.P. (2015), Catching a lift on a private plane, BBC, Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34544208.