How Spyware & Disinformation Threaten Democracy

All Akron residents can now apply to receive a free Amazon RING doorbell security camera, as part of the city's ongoing effort to increase neighborhood security. What started as a pilot program in three of the city's ten wards last year, has now expanded outside of just wards 3, 4, ad 5. City officials are using federal American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds to buy the cameras, and have allotted 300 per ward. This is in addition to the 400 originally given out to residents in four particularly high crime areas last year. Now, in order to fight crime, the free cameras come with some strings attached. When residents apply to receive one, they have to agree to terms and conditions, that include being willing to help police who may need to access some of the video footage captured by the cameras. Keep in mind when you listen to our interview with Akron City Council President, Margo Sommerville, that she says providing video footage for police is "entirely voluntary", but that is not exactly what the terms and conditions that are posted on the Akron City Council website indicate. They include: Applicant will timely create a RING account and will use his/her/their best efforts to notify the City and/or provide it with access to footage for law enforcement review suspected or actual criminal activity that does, or could, rise to the level of a felony. Applicant shall not in any way obstruct or object to the City’s request to review RING footage so long as the Akron Police Department reasonably believes it is necessary to the investigation of an actual or potential felony crimes. These conditions have not changed since the program began last year. However, the way that police can interact with citizens via the Neighbors app, that is used in conjunction with the RING cameras, has changed. Police used to be able to contact citizens in a selected area directly through the Neighbors app, and ask for them to send links to video from their cameras. That is no longer possible, though, because Amazon has disabled that feature, and now insists that police come to them with a warrant, or proof of exigent circumstances, if they want to access video that citizens don't supply to them voluntarily. But, while police cannot reach out to people for video through the app; they can still ask them for it directly, without going through the app. Akron Police Captain, Michael Miller explains, "The changes prevent us from sending a geo-notification to area residents, but they can still provide video links if they want. For example, if we are searching/canvassing an area and believe a crime occurred in a particular location, the homeowner can still send the police department a video link of any footage they captured. The goal all along was to enhance public safety and position us to solve crimes." With all that in mind, listen now, to my recent conversation with Akron City Council President, Margo Sommerville:

Now that President Biden has signed the bill Congress passed this week requiring the Chinese owners of the popular social media app, TikTok to sell to a US company within the next nine months, or face a possible ban; a lot more is at stake than than whether or not we can continue to can stare for hours at cute cat videos. The law, which was passed as part of a larger measure that renewed funding for war efforts in Ukraine and Israel, is a national security effort to ensure that the Chinese government cannot access the private data of US citizens. While Byte Dance, the company that currently owns TikTok, denies that is happening; there was enough concern on the part of an increasingly partisan and divided Congress to get the bill passed. But there are real world consequences to their action. All kinds of businesses, from solo entrepreneurs, to giant retailers, have found they can reach, engage, and profit from content they post on what has become the fourth most popular social network in America, currently used by more than 50% of the US population. So, what happens to them, if TikTok is no longer available, or it changes in a way that cuts them off to many of their followers? To find out, we talked to an expert on Social Media Marketing; University of Akron Associate Professor of Marketing, Dr. Alexa Fox. Listen now.

Imagine a future where virtually everything you touch is infused with Artificial Intelligence; not just your smart phone, but also your TV, your car, your air conditioner, the forklift at the factory where you work, and more. But that's not an imaginary scenario. According to the authors of the new book, "Fusion Strategy: How Real Time Data & AI will Power the Industrial Future"; that is exactly what is happening right now, and what will continue to happen on an ever increasing scale in the future. So, how can we get ready for it? What is ahead for individuals, for workers, and for business owners? Find out, as we discuss it with co-author, Dr. Venkat Venkatraman, who is a Professor of Management at Boston University.

The only thing worse than realizing you don't have your files backed up when your computer or external hard drive crashes, is finding out it could cost hundreds, or maybe even thousands of dollars to get them back. But, if you live in the Akron-Canton area; you're in luck, because students at Stark State College, will help you recover your precious photos, videos, music—or whatever else you lost— for free, this week! Listen now, for all the details, from Stark State Cybersecurity Professor, Glenn Goe.

When citizens are mislead by lies online, and journalists are hacked, tracked, intimidated, and shut down; Democracies worldwide are threatened. That was the message this week from US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who spoke at this week at the Third Summit For Democracy in Seoul, South Korea. Blinken talked about efforts the United States is making to support free speech, free press, and free people, by funding independent media outlets, protecting journalists, teaching citizens how to spot misinformation, and regulating the use of commercial spyware. We'll also hear about how that spyware works, from Cybersecurity expert, Dr. John Nicholas, who is the Director of the Center for Information and Communication Sciences, at Ball State University. Find out more. Listen now.

So much has changed since the pandemic shut down that started four years ago this week, and one of those things is how much more dependent we all are on technology. Going to work and to school suddenly became doable from home, but only for those with fast and reliable internet connections. Those who could not count on them, were left having to use less reliable connections through mobile phones, or public Wi-Fi at the library, coffee shops, and restaurants like McDonalds. Even that was hard, though, because those places shut down too, in the early months of the pandemic, leaving many students and families scrambling. Since then, the government has stepped in to try to bridge the "digital divide", between Americans in more affluent areas, and those in lower income neighborhoods, where high speed broadband is less prevalent, through federal funds for projects like Summit County's $57 million dollar "fiber ring". That project, which just recently got underway, will  connect 31 local communities and government agencies through a fast and secure network that extends Fairlawn Gig municipal broadband service countywide. But while extremely useful and important for the safety and security of county residents, that fiber ring doesn't solve the high speed broadband connectivity problem for individual consumers in their homes. So, that's where the City of Akron's recently announced partnership with New Jersey-based SiFi Networks, comes in. The city will grant the national fiber network developer access to right of ways, with a goal of creating a citywide fiber optic network and affordable, high-quality internet access for all residents.  In return, SiFi Networks plans to invest more than $200 million to install, maintain and operate an underground fiber optic network throughout Akron at no cost to the city, enabling citywide digitization while supporting economic growth. In addition, SiFi has agreed to reimburse the City of Akron for costs associated with expediting review of permits during the project.   We talked about it with City of Akron Chief Technology Manager Darren Roznek, who tells us that once the new fiber optic network is built; that could not only mean both high speed internet connections for residents who do not have them yet, but also lower internet connection prices for all consumers in Akron. Find out why. Listen now.

April 8th is going to be a big day in Northeast Ohio, with thousands of of visitors from all over the country expected flock here for the first total solar eclipse of the sun visible from this area since 1806. It will quite literally be the chance of a lifetime, as the next one like it, won't be until 2099. With that in mind; state, local, and federal offiicials got tother recently to discuss their plans to keep people safe from the kinds of things you can naturally expect when big crowds gather, like traffic jams, accidents, and unusually high demand for bandwidth on mobile phone networks. But they're also planning for things like people inadvertently damaging their septic systems, sustaining eye damage, and even drowning in Lake Erie, in their rush to sky gaze, and generally bask in the glory of a dark and mysterious celestial event. So, get ready to stay safe, healthy, and super astronomically amped, as we count down to totality! Listen now.

The State of Ohio wants to encourage teachers to get students ready for future employment in world where their jobs will be greatly influenced by Artificial Intelligence. As a result, they just issued a new "AI Toolkit" for K-12 teachers statewide, which they say will "empower policymakers, superintendents, principals, IT staff, teachers, and parents to advance AI literacy in their school districts. In addition, they say it will "provide resources that help promote student privacy, data security, ethics, and other factors." To find out what that might mean for teachers at Akron Public Schools, I had a conversation with their College & Career Academies Director, Marcie Ebright, who formerly worked for APS as an Instructional Technology Specialist. Listen now.

Financial schemes, scams, and outright swindles are nothing new, with examples dating back hundreds of years, including the Tulip  speculative bubble of the early 1600's, and the South Sea Scandal of 1720.  Fast forward to more recent times, to Bernie Madoff's gigantic Ponzi scheme, which was discovered in 2008, earned him a 150 year federal prison sentence, to the sub-prime mortgage crisis that spurred a severe economic recession between 2007 and 2010. With all that in mind, I recently read a fascinating opinion piece in The Washington Post, about a type of investment that has been pretty popular over the past few years, but has now fallen out of favor, because at its heart; a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) is based more on an idea of a way to make money, than on actual, provable, rock-solid investing data. As a result, many companies that have gone from privately held, to publicly traded as a result of this type of financing, have gone belly-up, including one in our area; Lordstown Motors. But still, some investors have cashed in, or at least, are still trying to do so, because while SPACs are on the decline and harder to do because of some new rules just recently put into place by the SEC; they're still legal. So, what exactly could this mean to the average investor? Does it only impact famous people like former President Trump, for example who is in the process of taking his Truth Social media platform public through a SPAC, or could it possibly trickle down to the likes of regular folks who have their retirement money IRA and 401K accounts?

The University of Akron's Esports program recently celebrated a career milestone. For the first time Rocket League history; a collegiate team composed of students from the same school qualified for their Championship Series, known as the RLCS. But, though they beat out over 900 other teams highly rated teams in the Rocket League Championship Series to become one of 16 teams to qualify for the RLCS North America Regional; they unfortunately didn't get past the first round, Still, as you'll hear from U-A Esports Director, Nate Meeker; it did help set them up for future success in other tournaments, and potentially for employment after graduation in a wide variety of professional sports-related jobs. Listen now.