Those of us in the U.S. all are well aware of Social Security Cards. CGP Grey explains all about Social Security Cards.

Earlier this week Apple released a few products. None of the released hardware products are new, however they all have some upgraded internals. Let us start with two upgraded iPhones.

iPhone SE

The first upgrade was to the iPhone SE. The iPhone SE was released about a year ago in March of 2016. The iPhone SE has the same internals as the iPhone 6s. This includes Touch ID, an A9 processor, M9 motion co-processor, and 4K video recording at 30fps. All of this in a 4-inch Retina screen. When the iPhone SE was released, it came in two sizes, 16GB And 64GB models.

The upgrade increases the two model sizes. They are now 32GB and 128GB models are the same price, $399 and $499 respectively.

This upgrade indicates two things. The first that the iPhone SE is not a one-off, and is likely to be continued in the future. It will likely be a phone where the internals are upgraded every two years. The second item is that the 16GB Model of iPhone is officially retired; except for maybe refurbished phones. The updated iPhone SE is not the only iPhone with a new model.

PRODUCT(RED)

PRODUCT(RED) is a program that raises awareness for, and provides funds, to help eliminate HIV/AIDS. Apple has been supporting (PRODUCT)RED since October 2006 when they unveiled an iPod Nano. Since then, Apple has added many other PRODUCT(RED) items over the last 11 years. The latest release is a particularly important one for Apple.

Apple has released an iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus that is Red and White. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are the same exact specifications as the Black, Gold, Rose Gold, and Silver models; except for one aspect. The PRODUCT(RED) iPhone does not come in 32GB, just like the Jet Black model. It does come in 128GB and 256GB models.

The 128GB iPhone 7 model is $749, the 256GB is $849. The 128GB iPhone 7 Plus is $869 and the 256GB is $969. This is the same as the Jet Black iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

The PRODUCT(RED) iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available for order on Friday, March 24th, at 8:01 AM Pacific Time.

iPad

One of the most anticipated products is a new iPad Pro, in particular the 12.9-inch model. Unfortunately, there was not a new version of the iPad Pro being released. There is a new 9.7-inch iPad.

The new iPad replaces the iPad Air 2 and is a slight upgrade. The new internals of the iPad include an A9 Processor, this is the same processor that is in the iPhone 6s. There is also the same Motion co-processor, the M9. This is the same as the iPhone 6s.

Besides the internals, the iPad is slightly heavier than its predecessor. The updated iPad is 1.05 pounds, versus 0.96 pounds. There are a couple of things that are no longer on the iPad. The fully laminated display and antireflective coating are no longer on the iPad. This is not the only thing has been dropped from the iPad.

The price has been dropped. The 32GB Wi-Fi Model is now $329, while the 128GB model is $429. This is down from $399 and $499 respectively. The Wi-Fi + Cellular models are $459 and $559 for the 32GB and 128GB models. This is down from $529 and $629 for the 32GB and 128GB Models.

The iPad will be available for order on March 24th, at 8:01 AM Pacific Time.

Accessories

Apple considers itself a fashion company. One of the ways that Apple keeps ups with fashion is by adding colors to some of its accessories. There are a few areas where this is the case. The first is with new iPhone Cases. There are a few new cases.

Cases

For the various iPhone models here are the new colors:

Leather:

iPhone 7/iPhone 7 Plus

• Berry
• Sapphire
• Taupe

iPhone SE

• Saddle Brown

Silicone:

iPhone 7/iPhone 7 Plus

• Azure
• Camellia
• Pebble

Watch Bands

While iPhone Cases provide some fashion, the Apple Watch bands do allow individual expression.

SportBand

• Azure
• Camellia
• Pebble

Nike Bands

When Apple unveiled the Apple Watch Series 2, one of the models that were not immediately available; the Nike+ Model. There are two distinct aspects to the Nike+ models. The first aspect is a custom watch face that is only available on the Nike+ models. This is still the case. However, the second distinct aspect is the watch band options for the Nike+ Watches. These watch bands are now available on their own.

The watch band options are:

• Black/Volt
• Anthracite/Black
• Pure Platinum/White

These bands are available for $49.

Woven Nylon

When Apple introduced the Woven Nylon bands, many of them are two colors. The majority of the band is one color, while a second color is an accent color. The Spring 2017 colors are below.

• Berry
• Tahoe Blue
• Orange
• Red
• Pollen
• Midnight Blue

All of the colors, excluding the Midnight Blue, are tai-colored. Each of these bands are $49.

Leather

One of the more chic materials for watch bands is Leather. There is a new Classic Buckle design for Spring. There are some new colors as well. These are the colors that are available:

• Berry
• Black
• Midnight Blue
• Red
• Saddle Brown
• Sapphire
• Taupe

These bands are available now and cost $149.

Hermès Bands

When Apple unveiled the Apple Watch, one of the companies that they partnered with is Hermès.

There are a few new Hermès bands available.

38 mm versions

• Fauve Barenia Leather Single Tour

• Fauve Barenia Leather Double Tour
• Bleu Zéphyr Epsom Leather Double Tour

42 mm versions

• Lime Epsom Leather Single Tour
• Colvert Swift Leather Single Tour
• Fauve Barenia Leather Single Tour

These bands are available for $489 each.

Software

Beyond the the hardware updates and accessories, there were some software updates released as well. The first is everyone's favorite software product, iTunes.

The new version, 12.6, has one new feature, 'Rent Once, Watch Anywhere'. This new feature will allow you to rent a movie on your iPhone you can watch it on your Apple TV.

While in theory this should have been the way it worked before, but it was almost never the case. This requires iOS 10.3 or tvOS 10.2 in order to work.

Clips

One of the more modern change to the Internet, in the last 13 years, is the rise of social media. There have quite a number of social networks that have gone bust in the last 15 years. Some of these include Plurk, Friender, Peach, Orkut, and Pownce.

Apple has attempted to create a social network, with Ping. Apple eventually realized that their attempt at a social network was not going to work, so they ended Ping. Instead of attempting to build another social network, Apple has done what they are good at, building applications. Apple has created a new application called Clips.

Clips is an application that allows iOS users to create videos that have special effects. The application is very like other applications that are available. The key to Clips is that you can share the clips that you make with individuals through Messages, or by posting to Facebook, Instagram, Vimeo, or even YouTube.

If in one of your clips, a face from your Photo library is recognized, Clips will automatically suggest that you send the clip to the subject of the video.

Clips will be available in early April on iOS. It will be a free application.

Swift Playgrounds

The last update, which is a minor one, but one that is much appreciated for some developers. Swift Playgrounds is now available in five more languages. These languages are:

• Simplified Chinese
• Japanese
• French
• German
• Latin American Spanish

The Swift Playgrounds update is available now.

Final Thoughts

These updates, while minor, are great updates for each of the product. This may just be a prelude to more announcements that may come in a few weeks.

When Apple announced their World Wide Developer Conference they announced that information about their scholarships would be announced later. Apple has now announced the Scholarship information.

Apple's WWDC Scholarship program is designed for those that are 13 years old, as a registered developer and enrolled in a course of study, or an alumni of STEM organization.

There are a few requirements for applying. They are as follows:

• Personal Information
• School Information
• Create a Swift Playground

The Personal Information must include your Apple ID, and a PDF, PNG, or JPG, that includes your membership information.

If you are a student, you will need to provide a current copy of your schedule in PDF, PNG, or JPG. If you are a member or alumni of a STEM organization, you will need to provide a PDF, PNG, or JPG of your membership information as well as your local leader's information.

The biggest requirement is that you will need to create a visually interactive scene in a Swift playground that can be experienced within three minutes. This could be just about anything, but it is a requirement to be awarded a scholarship.

The requirements for the Swift Playground are:

• The Swift playground you submit should be created entirely by you as an individual. Group work will not be considered.
• The Swift playground should be built using Swift Playgrounds on iPad or Xcode on macOS.
• The Swift playground should function properly and run on the latest releases of Swift Playgrounds and iOS or Xcode and macOS.
• All content should be in English.
• The .zip file size should not be more than 25 MB.
• Any resources in the project should be included locally in the zip file that you provide, as your Swift playground will be judged offline.

Scholarship recipients will receive a free ticket to Apple's WWDC 2017 conference as well as free lodging. Applying for a WWDC Scholarship will be available on March 27th, the same day that entry into the WWDC lottery will begin.

When one thinks of Silicon Valley, one aspect that they may think of that is companies often need to expand. Traditionally, when this is done, existing office buildings are purchased by companies and employees are moved in. As one might expect, Apple likes to think a bit different and wanted to not continue the practice of buying up buildings. In 2011, one of the last public presentations that former CEO Steve Jobs did was to present the Cupertino City Council in support of their new Apple Campus. Apple has given a name to their Campus 2. They have named it "Apple Park".

In 2010/2011, Apple purchased approximately 150 acres of land. The land was previously owned by Hewlett Packard's computer division, which is where Steve Jobs also held one of his summer jobs.

One of the features of the Campus 2 is that houses 12,000 employees all within one building. As Steve Jobs stated within his presentation to the Cupertino City Council, the traditional Office Parks that are around the Silicon Valley area are drab and just a bunch of buildings. This is not what Apple had envisioned for their new Campus.

20% of Apple's current campus at 1 Infinite Loop is landscaping. With Apple Park, approximately 80% of the 150 acres is landscaping, including a giant courtyard in the middle of the building. The number of trees at the 1 Infinite Loop Campus is approximately 3700. With Apple Park, it will be around 9000. Some of these trees would be Apricot Trees, which used to be on the land when HP bought the land.

One of the Council members asked if the city would get "Free Wifi", and Steve Jobs mentioned that Apple offers more than just free wifi, although if Apple would get out of paying taxes, then they would be happy to provide free wifi to Cupertino.

Apple has announced that their Apple Park will open to employees in April. One of the features of Apple Park will be the 1000 seat theater that is at one of the highest points of the campus. In honor of the legacy that Jobs had on the company, the new theater will be called the "Steve Jobs Theater".

It is not known when Apple Park will open for the public. There is an Apple Store, cafe open to the public, and a visitor's center. It is likely that Apple will hold a presentation at Apple Park at some point in the year.

If you have a chance to visit Apple Park when it is open, it would be a site to see.

One of the upsides to the way that many shows are released these days is that you are able to consume an entire season/series of a show without having to wait for a new episode to be released every week. One of the downsides to this method is that it is as lot easier to not pick up a show after you have consumed it. For me, this has happened with a few shows.

• Lilyhammer - stopped after season 1
• Newsroom - stopped after season 2.
• The Walking Dead - stopped after season 5.
• Fear the Walking Dead - stopped after season 1.
• House of Cards - stopped after season 3, episode 10.
• Game of Thrones - stopped after season 3.
• Orange is the New Black - stopped after episode 3.
• House
• Grey's Anatomy
• Lost
• Sopranos

Contrast the list above with the list of TV shows that I have seen in their entirety more than once:

• West Wing
• M*A*S*H
• Life
• Alcatraz
• Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
• Planet Earth

There are likely more shows, but I cannot think of any more at the moment. Given the popularity of the shows above, you would think that I would finish them. However, this has not been the case. So it may be surprising to learn that I have completely finished Season 1 and Season 2 of Amazon's Man in the High Castle. I have some thoughts and questions about the show.

The Background

The series is based on the novel Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick.

Man in the High Castle is an alternate reality story. One that is based on the United States losing World War II. The country was divided up between Germany in the East, with the "Greater Reich" and Japan in the West with the "Pacific States". There is a neutral zone that stretches between the two regions. This is where a portion of the story takes place, in particular Canon City.

Frank Frink

The story arc of Frank is an interesting one. In the first episode, he insists on bringing Juliana to the Police Station to turn in the film that Trudy had given her, and that she needs to tell them that she's a loyal citizen. However, by the end of the second season Frank is right in the thick of the resistance, planning and offering to go cause major destruction to the Pacific States headquarters.

Trudy

One of the plots throughout the series is how Juliana is carrying forth what her half-sister Trudy started. Early in the series, Trudy is killed by the Japanese for trying to evade the Kempeitai and for trafficking the films. The last shocker of Season 2 is that Trudy is not actually dead. This bombshell leads to so many questions.

1. When Juliana's Mom says that Trudy is not dead, because she can feel that she is not. Was she right?
From the ending of Season 2, it is presume that she is correct that Trudy is not dead.
2. Did Juliana actually see Trudy in the market?
Again, from the end of the Second Season, it may be that she actually did see Trudy in the market.

Joe Blake

One of the primary characters is Joe Blake. Joe is also one of the first characters introduced. The character of Joe Blake is an interesting one. Joe's allegiances vary throughout the show. At first he is working for Obergruppenführer John Smith. His first assignment was to bring a shipment of coffee makers to the neutral zone, from New York City. During this long haul, Joe get suspicious and begins looking at the truck and realizes that something does not seem right. So, right from the start, Joe questions his loyalty.

In Episode One, Joe states "I want my country back", when he getting the job from Mr. Warren, and insists he is not a spy. However, as the series progresses, it turns out that he is indeed working for the Greater Reich. He is a spy for the Greater Reich. It is not entirely clear where his actually allegiances lies.

A fact that comes in Season 2, is that Joe is actually leibensborn, or part of a German program to create a superior race of germans.

The Films

The biggest thread through the series is the films. These films, as one can surmise, show a different world. Some of these films are ones that depict what actually occurred in World War II. Within the Pacific States of America and the Greater Reich, owing a film is considered treasonous and punishable by instant death, as Frank tries to tell Juliana in episode one.

The entire story behind the films is not fully flushed out. The theory is that the Man in the High Castle is the one manufacturing these films, but very little is know about the Man in the High Castle.

The Man in the High Castle indicated that all of the films end up with San Francisco being annihilated by a bomb, except for the one that Julianna gave to Joe Blake, that was subsequently given to Adolf Hitler. It can be presumed that this is the most important film of them all since it may show the only way to not have the entire world destroyed.

Obviously Hitler wants the films destroyed, as is stated in episode one. However, obviously there is a huge cache of them as discovered by Obergruppenfuhrer Smith at the end of Season 2.

The Trade Minister

One of the main Japanese characters is Trade Minister Nobusuke Tagomi. One of the ways that the Japanese divine answers to things, and anticipate what will occur, is through a 5,000 year old book, called the "Oracle".

You may not understand this. I live by a 5,000 year old book. I ask it questions as if it were alive. It is alive. It tells me you have a purpose. It says superior person in an inferior position, accepting a task graciously brings good fortune to all.

One aspect to Tagomi's story is that he goes back to the house that he and his deceased wife owned, or would have owned that part is unclear. When he returns his wife is on her way out, and he finds that she has filed for divorce; or one presumes that. As I do not read Japanese I cannot say for sure.

At this point, Tagomi's story takes us into an alternate reality. Tagomi's alternate history takes place in the timeline where the United States wins the War. During these sequences he sees his son. In this version, his son marries Juliana, and they have a child. It is presumed that in this timeline that there is a strain within his family. He is still on decent speaking terms with his son, and Juliana, but less so with his wife. With this timeline, I am presuming that he is an alcoholic because his son mentions his father's "benders". It is presumed that in this alternate timeline, Tagomi is an alcoholic.

Upon the second viewing, when Tagomi is repairing the broken cup, it symbolizes his attempt to repair his relationship with his family; at least in the alternate timeline. It may seem like a small gesture, but Nori does put it in the baby's room and allow Tagomi to enter the room and hold his grandchild, so it is a powerful gesture. This, I believe, allows Tagomi to do what comes next.

In this timeline, Juliana is having a get together at Tagomi's house where they are creating "Ban the Bomb" signs to protest the Nuclear bomb. During this time, she shows a video of a Hydrogen Bomb test that was conducted on the Pacific Atoll. After showing this film, Tagomi tells his wife: "There is something that I must do." Her reply, "Safe Journey." Right after this, Tagomi asks Juliana for the film. The following dialog takes place amongst some Cherry Blossoms.

Juliana: "Why do you want this?" Tagomi: "Proof, that something like this should never happen again." Juliana: "I don't understand." Tagomi: "You have all made me happy. Happier than nI have been in a very long time. There are somethings that are more important than happiness. I have duties elsewhere tat I can no longer neglect." Juliana: "Are you leaving?" Tagomi: "We will see each other again. Of that, I am sure." Juliana: "Ok, don't go, I'll be right back."

Here is where Juliana begins to leave, she pauses, and when she turns around Tagomi is gone. In the next scene we see Tagomi back at his desk. This is the location where my questions begin.

1. Was that whole sub-plot just wishful thinking on Tagomi's part?
We can presume that he thinks of Juliana as a daughter figure, first by providing her a job when she refuses to "perform special tasks" for the general, but through this sub-plot. In particular, when Tagomi tells his son that he is proud to call her his daughter.
2. Did Tagomi actually travel to the alternative timeline?
It is easy for one to infer that this may be the case, since we see Tagomi back at his desk with the film in hand. Maybe I missed it, but I do not recall him getting this by any other means. At least not that film. I have some theories about it all.

The Smiths

Of the entire Smith family, the one character that we are exposed to most is Obergruppenführer John Smith. The Smiths are based in New York City. With the Reich taking over the Eastern United States, it appears that John Smith is the most powerful person in the Reich

The plot with Thomas, which includes Obergruppenfuhrer John Smith, is an intriguing one. In Episode 6 of Season 1, Thomas reveals that he wants to make his country proud, and that there are many places that he would like to go. The statement of wanting to make his country proud. In his eyes, this is exactly what he does at the end of Season 2 in one of the last scenes of the season. In this scene Thomas turns himself into the Greater Reich Hospital because he is a "degenerate" due to his neurological condition.

It should be no surprise that Smith would take the doctor out of the equation, given that there are only three people who actually know of Thomas' condition. The doctor, Smith, and his wife Helen. The means of which he kills the doctor was one that some could predict. It does show two different sides to Smith. The first being a father that would do anything for his family. Yet, Smith is willing to do what it takes to protect the Reich, and has no problem using people for his own personal reasons, like Joe Blake.

In order to save Thomas, or so they think, John decides to make a ruse and had a letter sent to Thomas indicating that he was picked to go on an expedition. At first Helen is reluctant, since she knows about his condition. She confronts John, at work, and John informs Helen of the entire plan. Ultimately, she decides it is for the best and informs Thomas that he will be going to South America.

Thomas: So you're letting me go? Helen: We're letting you go.

This double meaning has so many implications for the Smiths, and Helen in particular. The way that Helen states it, most would pick up on; but Thomas, both being excited, and only a teenager, does not pick up on the subtly and double-meaning of the sentence.

Even though John Smith is a loyal Senior Officer for the Reich, he disobeys a direct order by acting Chancellor Heusmann and leaves New York to unveil a conspiracy that killed the Crown Prince of Japan a well as Adolf Hitler. Also, he hides all evidence of Thomas' illness. This includes killing Dr. Adler, as well as confiscating the tapes that implicate that his son has a defect.

It is clear that when John is at the Reich Headquarter in Berlin, and is being praised within the volkshalle for his heroism in saving the Reich, that he is quite uncomfortable. Short of Himmler, John is probably the second most powerful person in the Reich, after Heusmann and his co-conspirtors are removed. This is likely due to his betrayal with his son and hiding his defect.

The Bombing

One of the main plot points is that there is a resistance that is trying to actively work against the Japanese in the Pacific States of America. The bombing happened late in Season 2, and was intended to cause confusion. One question I have is whether Sara and Frank made it out, just like the Inspector Kido managed to. My gut is no, but it would not be surprising if they did, given the unveiling at the end of Season 2. More on this a little later.

Theories

This is my theory on the whole story; thus far anyway. It involves the ability for certain individuals; Those who study the 5000 year old book, and follow what it says, have the ability to enter into, and bring items back with them, from the alternate reality. This theory fits quite well with how the Reich was obsessed with the occult. This would also mean that the Man in the High Castle follows what the 5,000 year old book says as well; hence how he is able to bring Trudy back from the dead. This is similar to how Tagomi can bring the film back with him when he leaves the alternate 1962.

The ability for certain individuals to travel between the timelines is why Hitler wants the films. Given that there are so few individuals who can do this traveling, it is imperative that Hitler gets the films.

This is reaffirmed when Tagomi is talking to Kotomichi, and realizes that Kotomichi is not of the 1962 that exists within the story, but from the alternate 1962. Kotomichi has burns from the bomb dropped on Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

Furthermore, It is possible that Abendsen is able to travel between the two worlds, at will. This is how he is able to get the films, destroy them whenever he wants, and yet can always end up having more films, even after they are burned.

The films complicate any rational idea behind the storyline. The best theory that I have is that there are multiple simultaneous timelines. The evidence for this is that how the Trade Minister obtains the film with the bomb testing on the atoll. In particular, since he disappeared when Juliana turned around, after giving him the film.

This is further evidenced by the fact that the Trade Minister has the visions of his deceased wife as well as his son. We know that his wife is deceased since Juliana brought it up during one of her meetings with Tagomi.

The idea of being able to bring the films back, may also extend to being able to bring individuals between the two timelines as well. This may be how Abendsen was able to bring show Juliana that Trudy was not in-fact dead. This is how Juliana's mother felt that Trudy was not dead and why Juliana saw Trudy in the market; because while the "true" 1962 Trudy was indeed dead, the alternate timeline Trudy was brought back.

Season 3 Plot Ideas

I do not think that both Frank and Sara are dead, even though they appear to be so. It is possible that one of them was killed in the blast. If I had to put money on it, it would be that Sarah is dead. However, a more unforeseen option would be to have Sara survive and Frank not.

If Frank is indeed dead, it would not be surprising if Ed and Juliana ended up getting together. This theory is based upon Season 2, Episode 9, where there is the flashback to when Ed first meets Juliana. It is clear that she is flirting, at least to some extent, with Ed while Frank is off getting the glasses.

I think in Season 3, Juliana will learn that she also has the power to travel between the timelines, or at least the existence of the ability to travel between the timelines.

Other Thoughts

• I love the little touches that show the alternate reality, like "Ranger Reich" instead of Ranger Rick. Along this, the signs like "U-Bahn" for Subway, while within the Greater Reich.
• While Stephen Root (Milton from Office Space) does a really good job as the Man in the High Castle. If he were still alive I think Phillip Seymour Hoffman would have made an even better Man in the High Castle.
• Given that the year is 1962, the Concorde is still flying and super fast travel is still attainable. Having the capability of fast travel like that would be nice to have, even today, but only if it were financially practical for people.
• I do like the quasi refrigerator that the Smiths have. I honestly would not mind having one similar myself.
• Can I have a few of the cars that are shown in the show?

Final Thoughts

It is not often that I end up watching an entire series of a show. I have now watched the entire series twice and enjoyed it even more the second time around. You may miss things the first time you watch it, but that is typically how things happen when you watch any sort of media.

There are a breadth of characters, both primary characters and secondary characters. It is easy to get lost within the story, which is why it is best to really pay attention to everything. It is too bad that Season 3 will not premiere until the end of 2017. It would be nice to have it sooner, but I like the quality thus far.

If you enjoy alternative-reality stories, then Man in the High Castle would be right up your alley. It may start off slow, but it will be well worth seeing it in the end.

One of the events that Apple hosts every year is its World Wide Developer Conference. Apple has announced that its 2017 World Wide Developer Conference will take place between June 5th and June 8th, 2017. Typically, the announcement of this event occurs on average, 58.8 days before the beginning of the World Wide Developer Conference, for 2007 to 2016. The shortest number of days is 41 in 2010 and the largest number was 89 in 2008.

If we add in 2017's information. The numbers have changed slightly. The shortest number of days is from 2010 with 41 days. But 2017 is the earliest that Apple has announced the event, with 110 days. This means that the new average number of days is 64.5 days before the event.

From 2003 until 2016, Apple held the conference at Moscone West in San Francisco. For 2017, the location has changed. It will be held at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose. The 2017 Conference is not the first time that WWDC will be held in San Jose. From 1989 until 2002, the event was held at the same venue. At that time it was called the "San Jose Convention Center".

There my be a few reasons for the change. The first is that Moscone West will be undergoing some construction over the summer. This means that it may not be possible to host the WWDC Conference for the dates that Apple wanted. The amount of time to get from Apple's Headquarters in Cupertino, to Moscone West is approximately an hour. The fact that Moscone West is undergoing construction is the primary reason. However, the choice for using McEnery Convention Center is its proximity to the Apple Campus. McEnery is approximately a 15 minute drive from both Apple's current campus, 1 Infinite Loop, as well as their new Apple Campus 2 location. This short drive means two things. The first thing it means is that there may be more access to Apple's engineers. This access would be not be only for the presentations, but also for the hands-on labs that Apple has for developers.

The last possible reason, which is purely speculation, is that the close proximity would allow the media to tour the new Apple Campus, if they are not given a look prior to WWDC.

Registration to get a tickets to WWDC 2017 will be on Monday, March 27 at 10:00 a.m. PDT. Similar to the last few years, the process of getting a WWDC ticket will be made by random selection. As one might expect, you must be a registered Apple Developer, with either a personal account or an enterprise account. As with previous years, Apple will also be announcing the process for applying for a scholarship in the future.

It is anticipated that Apple will discuss both iOS 11, tvOS 11, watchOS 4, and macOS 10.13 at the WWDC 2017 keynote. The keynote should take place on June 5th, 2017 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, if tradition is anything to go by.

WWDC 2017 will be a good conference for those developers who are able to get a ticket to attend.

You may notice that there are times that I end up posting videos. Sometimes they are of gameplay, but more often than not they are videos the are not songs. There have been a few, but I figured that it would be good to post this one. The song is "Late to the Party", in particular this version of the song is one of the better ones. Maybe it is the fact that it is a live version, but I am not entirely sure. The video below starts at the beginning, but you can follow this link to get to the beginning of the song.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZyKo7o35mv4?t=532

I normally do not report on technology stories outside of Apple, but the recent story of Vizio being fined by the Federal Trace Commission (FTC) is one that I determined warranted some coverage.

Backstory

The FTC has fined Vizio $2.2 Million for their behaviors. The backstory is that in 2014 Vizio began tracking what viewers were watching. This was done by capturing a set of pixels on the screen, sending this information, along with other information, to their servers. Through the use of machine learning, Vizio was able to match those pixels to a vast catalog of shows. This gathering occurred on a second-by-second basis. The information gathered was then aggregated and sold to third-party advertisers. This information that was obtained included demographics, location, and viewing habits. If it was merely a mechanism for gathering what was watched, it may not be considered too bad, but it was more. Despite how bad this was, it was not just TVs that were made after 2014, but that Vizio went back and proactively enabled this on TVs as far back as 2011. The primary complaint was that Vizio did not get a viewer's consent before performing this action.

Problems with this

The biggest issue that I have with this, besides the fact that this was being done without the knowledge of users, is that Vizio has been the only one who has been caught doing this. Does this mean that they are the only company that is performing in this behavior? I highly doubt it. It is very likely that many other manufacturers are also performing this action.

Bandwidth Usage

One aspect that is not always readily recognized in today's technology-laden world is the amount of bandwidth being used. While the information may have been sent in batches, it still uses some bandwidth of every user. Depending on how much the TV was used, this could easily add up. Take this with consideration that many users now fall into data caps and this uses up that bandwidth.

Mitigations that can be done now

There are a few ways to not have this occur. The first is disconnect the TV from your network. If the TV is connected via a physical ethernet cable (which is unlikely for most users), you can simply unplug it. However, if it is connected via Wireless, you will need to disconnect it from the Wireless, and if possible, set the TV to completely "forget" the network, so it cannot reconnect on its own.

The downside to do this though, is that since it is a "Smart TV", if you use any of the built-in services, like Netflix, you may not be able to use them. This could likely include not being able to watch Netflix in 4K.

Streaming Boxes

Another possible solution is to use an external 3rd party box, like Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, or even an Roku, in conjunction with disconnecting the TV from the network. While some of these devices may also be tracking what you watch, it is more likely that it is for their own purposes and not to sell to third-parties. However, you will want to read the agreements before saying anything definitive.

Long-term Fixes

There is no simple fix that can be made for this. The fix has to come either through governmental regulation or through industry regulations. The other option, which is not likely, is for people to tell the industry with their dollar. This is likely due to the limited availability for "dumb" TVs on the market. There is a small contingent of people who would be willing to pay a bit more for a TV that did not have any "smart" capabilities. I know I would be one of those people.

Final Thoughts

The solution for this problem is not an easy one to determine. It may take some pushback from consumers to demand that privacy regulations be created so that the consumer is in charge of how their information is used. This must come with regulation. The fine of Vizio is designed to let all manufacturers know that they must now get explicit, not implicit, permission from users before gathering the information. The damage, from the existing gathering and selling of information, is already done. Being required to get permissions from users will undoubtedly ultimately hurt the bottom line of the television manufacturers, since fewer users will agree to the collection, thus, they will not be able to sell as much information to advertisers.

It would behove the government to begin lobbying even larger fines for any company that performs in the same manner as Vizio. If the government is truly intent on curbing this type of abuse, as well as others, making it hurt financially may be an effective way of doing just that.

If you enjoy the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel and you enjoy Star Wars, you will likely enjoy this rendition of the song: