Where Is SoundCloud 'Go'ing?

Today the "YouTube for sounds" service SoundCloud announced the launch of SoundCloud Go, a subscription service which unlocks many tunes from big-name labels and offline storage. Having tried it, I'm completely underwhelmed. I love SoundCloud as a service, I really do. It is my go-to platform to discover new music. And while Go is a good effort, its implementation falls short.

For $9.99 or $12.99 a month, it's hard to not compare to Spotify or other big name music streaming services. After all, it's the same price. But what you're getting isn't the same value. I love SoundCloud for its collection of unique indie artists, and that's there whether I have Go or not. Go is supposed to add licensed music from big-name labels, but it doesn't. Searching for the likes of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, or any other superstar artist just doesn't pull up any real results. Go results are in their own separate page when you search so it's easy to distinguish, but it's almost never what I'm looking for. The organization of the songs is random at best, sometimes putting covers or tributes ahead of the actual music. Forget artist or album pages, too. When I first saw Go on the SoundCloud homepage this morning, I was hoping SoundCloud could do something YouTube is still struggling to do. Find a happy medium between user generated content and licensed music. I was let down hard.

Sure, you get an ad-free experience and the ability to download tracks, but that's hardly worth $9.99/month. If they implemented this licensed music functionality in a decent manner and added more organization tools, and signed up more labels, and bundled their Pro features, then and only then it might be worth the price tag.

Like I said, I love SoundCloud. I just wish they would stop limiting themselves and try to become a real contender. This half-baked implementation of a Spotify-esque streaming system just shows that SoundCloud needs to get its act together. There have been many rumors circulating of SoundCloud losing huge amounts of money, which doesn't surprise me. Their only ways of income are ads and pro sales. (And now Go sales.) But paying off record labels so they don't sue and the cost for hosting music is crushing them. Unfortunately, the only solution to this is a paid tier that doesn't, well, suck.

Sources: SoundCloud, Engadget

Has Apple Begun to Put Profits over Innovation?

A few days ago, Apple's event shocked millions with more amazing innovation. Just kidding. Apple's "Let us loop you in" press event was a failure of the highest caliber. First of all, they announced the iPhone 4—I mean, the iPhone SE. No doubt you've heard of it, with every iPhone Apple announces making national news due to the exclusivity of its platform. Nevertheless, design-wise, the phone is reverting Apple back to 2010. Sure, it updated it with Touch ID and some new specs, but who cares? In an ever-evolving smartphone world, companies should be trying to be new and innovative, not going back to six years ago. Coupled with this, Apple announced the iPad Pro, something literally everyone was expecting. It's a bigger iPad. That's basically it.

Apple has shown in the last few years to not be a pursuer of innovation, but one of greed. Apple knows that it can release and re-release whatever it wants and it will not suffer a significant loss in sales. And when it does take chances, say, with the Macbook, it's a massive failure. Near-mobile specs and thinness that sacrifices usefulness? Yeah, that sounds like a great laptop. But with Apple's demographic, as long as it comes in a pretty color and boasts a new "thinness" nobody will care. Why is this?

Apple's advertising and brand revolves around the "magic" of "it just works." Apple hides its specs behind buzzwords such as "Retina" which causes users to become too trusting in the brand. When Apple is "magic" and other brands are "nerdy tech" it isn't a competition between what phone is better. It doesn't matter if one phone has the processing power of four iPhones, as long as Apple can say it has the "The most advanced chip ever in a smartphone," the vast majority of consumers will not care. Apple knows all of this and exploits this. It uses this as an excuse to not innovate. 3D touch was a cool concept, but in practice, nothing more than a novelty. I think that in the past few years not only has Apple been lacking in innovation, but it has become a one trick pony.

I have no doubt the iPhone SE and the iPad Pro will sell like hot cakes. That's the kind of consumers Apple panders to. I just hope that Apple will see that it doesn't have to use repeat designs and uninnovative tactics. You're one of the biggest tech companies in the world! Do something with what you have.

Microsoft's Totally Tubular Twitter AI Turned into a Neo-Nazi in Less than 24 Hours

Microsoft, in an effort to further AI research (?) released a Twitter AI yesterday, and within 24 hours it was taken offline by Microsoft for becoming racist, offensive, and Hitler-loving. After all, what can Microsoft expect, releasing a teenage chat bot upon Twitter? Tay's websites says that Tay is intended for "18 to 24 year olds in the U.S., the dominant users of mobile social chat services in the US."

TayTweets, or Tay.ai, learns from interactions with other users when they mention her or DM her. Bots like this have been around on Twitter forever, but this is the first time I've ever seen where a bot this sophisticated has been released to the masses to receive such a huge audience. It replied to 96,000 tweets in just under a day. 96,000 human interactions that each influence Tay.

Now, here's where the problem is. When you create a chat bot with no filter and release it on the Internet, you can't expect great results. The bot began to tweet the N word, saying it hates feminists, and basically turned into a Nazi. AI is complex, and currently our technology is not strong enough to provide it a sense of morality or prejudice. Tay learned from what people told it, and if people told it bad things, it would repeat them.  When I say Tay was taken offline, I don't mean she was deleted. She made a tweet saying she was going to sleep, presumably so the AI engineers could work out this PR disaster in the making.

But what's really amazing about this whole thing is how realistic Tay's responses were. If I didn't know anything about Tay and I glanced at its profile, I would think it was an actual teen. It uses all lowercase, uses emojis, slang, everything. It could hold a real conversation and give responses that made logical sense, albeit sometimes a bit odd. I hope Tay comes back online with some improvements in order to stop it from learning prejudice things, but over-all it's incredible to me how much Tay learned in just under a day. If Tay was up for a week, or a month, I could only imagine how realistic Tay could become.

Source: Twitter

What It Takes to Be a Programmer

A lot of people see programming as a very mathematical and logic-oriented field, and while this is true, there is a whole other aspect to it. To be a programmer, you need creativity and ideas. I think it's more important to have perseverance and strong ideas than be good at math or logic.

This year I really started getting into learning actual programming. Previously, I had only been interested in HTML and CSS, which are markup languages. Basically, you code how things look. It does not actually do much of anything. There is no logic or processing. This year, with my computer science course, I've learned Python and am starting to learn Java. There is a huge difference between a markup language and a programming language. Programming languages allow for user input to solve a problem. Solving problems is what programmers do.

When I started learning Python, I loved the problem solving aspect the most. You have to think of creative ways to get around problems with your code. Not every problem has the same solution, and there are multiple ways to get around the same problem. Code is personalized, not robotic.

I started programming a simple Android app earlier this year and had many problems along the way. I wanted something that could be useful in everyday life. When I began, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know Java. I didn't know XML. But the ability to learn and Google my problems let me get through making most of my app. Eventually though, I got to a problem that I just couldn't solve. That's when I realized I needed more knowledge of Java. So while I'm currently learning Java, I'm beginning to understand more and more about the language and about programming as a whole. In the end, it's for the user. And I think a good programmer should know that to create a good program, it has to have the user in mind. I think this is why certain software (Linux) doesn't reach mainstream success. It is not focused on the end-user. Design, creativity, and problem solving are the main aspects of a good programmer in my opinion.

I hate math class, and I feel like programming is wrongly equated to mathematics. You do have to have some math knowledge, but the amount of math you use compared to problem solving and creativity is minute. Think of all of the experiences you have had with technology. All of those experiences were made possible by programmers. Your Twitter, YouTube, Facebook. It takes one great idea and perseverance to become a successful programmer.

Why Google's Project Fi Is Revolutionizing Wireless

Project Fi isn't exactly a household name. It's a new wireless network created by Google that only currently supports Nexus devices. But not only is it one of the best things to come out of Google in a long time, if it gains enough popularity, it could surely change the world of wireless networks forever.

So, what makes Project Fi different? Fi uses two different networks, Sprint and T-Mobile, and intelligently switches between them to find the best option. Not only does it switch between data networks, it can also connect to specific WiFi hotspots that Google deems safe, such as Starbucks WiFi. Even though these networks are safe, Google still automatically connects you through a VPN so there is no question whether your data is secure. This intelligent data-hopping is something I have never seen before, and it could really help save precious GB at the end of the month.

Speaking of GB, Fi offers an interesting take on what data plans in the 21st century should be. Instead of a fixed monthly price for an allocated amount of data, Fi lets you pick what you think is best for you, and then refunds you the difference. Fi starts at $20/mo, and then it's +$10/mo for each GB. Let's say you buy 3GB, so you're paying $50/mo. But let's also say that you only use 1GB. That extra $20 worth of data is credited to your account, so you only pay $30 for the next month! It's a brilliant system that provides a level of flexibility I have never seen.

Not to mention all the other amazing features that Fi offers, such as the same $10/GB model internationally, the ability to connect with Google Hangouts to talk/text on multiple devices, WiFi calling, and a simple to use management app. Project Fi also heavily discounts the Nexus 5X to a price of only $199. That's incredible! Personally, I'll be switching to Fi the second my current plan runs out. I can't wait!

Google Surprises Everyone, Releases Android N Developer Preview Today

Google, in a move nobody was expecting, decided to release the full Android N developer preview to the masses today. I'm currently downloading it on my Nexus 6P, (because I'm a rebel like that) so while that's happening, let's talk about the various changes that Google has introduced to Android today.

First off, the most interesting thing about Google's changes today isn't even to Android itself. Along with the release of the dev preview, Google has launched the Android Beta Program. This allows anyone with a compatible Nexus device enroll in over-the-air beta updates. This is a huge change compared to what they did with Android M. With M, if you wanted to participate in the developer previews, you had to manually flash them. Most people do not know how to flash system images, so this put up a large wall for user feedback. I can't say whether Google choosing to make this process easier will be beneficial or not. On one hand, you have more people becoming engaged in the future of Android. On the other, you have a lot of people who don't know what they're doing installing the beta and complaining about bugs.

On to the features! Android N has added various improvements that keep it competitive with Apple. Usually, I'd say Apple is playing catch-up with Android, but Android N does this to iOS in many ways. First of all, it finally adds multi-window support, something that Google is hoping to expand their tablet market. It's been a long time coming. Second, the addition of a f.lux-like screen tinter is also something iOS has added recently. That's about where the similarities stop, though. Back from the early Android M builds is the dark theme, which turns various UI elements dark instead of white. The notification shade and quick settings have also been restyled to a more modern look, taking up 100% of the width of the screen. Speaking of notifications, Google has added an official API for text input within notifications. Think of quick-reply being fully supported in the OS.

There are also tons of new features being discovered right now, as the preview was only released a few hours ago. I sure can't wait to go explore them! Looks like my apps are being optimized, gotta go!