Calling Minecraft the "Lego" of the 21st century, Leo says that Microsoft has created an education edition of the game for computer programming, chemistry, and a host of other teaching tools within the game itself. It's also available on the iPad. Leo says it's a very cool idea and a great way to learn science, technology and math (STEM).
Intel has run up against a wall in Moore's Law that said that the number of transistors in a processor would double every 18 months. In the last few years, Intel has been up against a wall, not being able to double the speed. But a recent breakthrough has created a transistor using a single atom! That will enable processors to become faster and smaller, using very little energy.
This week, Apple's stock rose to the point where Apple became the first company on Wall Street worth a trillion dollars. Leo says while that makes for a great headline, it's really a dubious barometer, because Apple has all the money it's gotten from stock. Any further rising and lowering of the stock is beneficial for those who buy and sell it. But what the value does indicate, is that when Apple offers stock to talent as a perk, it's worth far more to them. And engineers are thinking about that. Still, Apple is the first to do it, so it's historic.
Twitter purged over a million bots and fake accounts, and Wall Street reacted by a 20% loss in Twitter's stock value. The reason? The Social Media giant is contracting, not growing. Or, in reality, the perception of Twitter's actual active users is far less than Wall Street likes and as such, many investors sold their stock.
The state of New York has voted to kick cable provider Spectrum out of the state, after the ISP failed to create a high speed network in rural areas. The company will also have to pay a $3 million penalty, and continue to operate until the New York Public Service Commission finds a company to replace them. New York made a provisional approval of the merger of Spectrum and Charter Communications, but without the rural internet agreement, the state has revoked that approval and kicked them out.
Leo says that he's been using the new MacBook Pro for a week with Apple's firmware fix to solve the thermal throttling issue of its i9 processor during heavy use applications. Leo says it's now mighty fast and is running as it should. The problem as a simple missing piece of code called a digital key. Now everything is as it should be and the internet needs to stop piling on the new MacBook Pro.
Twitter banned a ton of fake accounts this quarter, and as a result, not only lost 1 million active users, but also saw their stock take a dump. Even though they made $20 million in the process. But Wall Street says that Twitter isn't growing, and as a result, the value declined. Even Facebook took a hit this week, in the single largest stock loss in Wall Street trading history. $120 Billion in lost value. Mark Zuckerberg lost over half his personal wealth. But Leo says he'll likely bounce back over time.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Apple App Store has created millions of jobs and is a multi billion dollar industry worldwide. Leo says that it is estimated that Apple sees over $100 Billion a month in app sales.
A federal judge approved the merger of Time Warner and AT&T this week, opening the floodgates for even more large mega corporate mergers. Comcast moved almost instantly to provide a massive bid on 21st Century Fox, outbidding Disney by over 15%, setting off a huge bidding war. Leo says that the judge got it wrong and this represents a serious problem for consumers, even though customers like it because it saves them money in the short run.
Doctor Mom heard about Amazon Alexa recording conversations and sending them to contacts by mistake. How can she make sure that doesn't happen, since she is a doctor and has HIPPA concerns? Leo says Business Insider has a piece on how to prevent it, here.
