There are a number of conspiracy theorists out there who make false claims that are really nothing to be concerned about. Fake news is loaded with it and so are those who believe the government is hiding alien information and so on.
Then comes along something that is a bit uncomfortable. China has been known to hack into United States government computer systems. China is a communist nation. Many millennials (even people in their 30's and I know because I've met them) do not really understand what that means.
A quick lesson is (Wikipedia is pretty useless these days when trying to read something that should be easy) a basic Karl Marx teaching. That is that the government makes the decisions for you. They decide where you work, how much you make, etc. They take most of your money and put it in a pile. They pass that pile out to others. The only rich people are government workers and you have no chance for advancement, ever. They take a large portion of your money and keep it for themselves. They give you health care with a mortality rate (the noted article says, "China faces huge health care problems that make those of the United States seem almost trivial by comparison") that is very high and is call socialized health care for everyone, even if it's killing them. Karl Marx is the founder of communism as well as fascism. We all know how evil the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany was and so China, who follows this same philosophy is truly an enemy.
Democrats hate China because they use slave labor in manufacturing products many of which are traded to America. Conservatives hate China because there is a massive trade deficit (to explain that to newbs, in a quick and easy example: America trades sends one cow to China to be sold there, China in turn sends two cows to be sold in America; it is not an even trade, so Americans lose jobs due to that, while they take all our money). Consumers hate China because their products fall apart quickly. Even veterinarians hate China because they use poison in dog foods! I could go on and on. The end result is that no one in America should like — nor support — China, EVER!
Now! I told you all of that to tell you this.
My phone is an awesome Samsung Note 8, which I love! It has pretty good security system and even if I have given permission for access to some feature on my phone, it still lets me know when an app accesses that feature.
At first, I found that security warning annoying. I mean, I gave the app permission, so "Why is it telling me it's using my camera when I said it could?" I'd breathe in frustration! Until the day I got the notice that the a match three game app was using my camera.
You see, I had installed an app one day that was a Chinese game. I was quite impressed by it but unfortunately I cannot name it because I simply don't remember the name. It was a game, in any case, and was disappointingly fun. I say disappointing because I really would have loved to have kept it.
I stupidly assumed the warning about that app using my camera was a mistake and so ignored it, at first. Then I got another notice a day later. I ran a virus scan, thinking that something odd had happened but it had a clean bill of health. I then Googled the company of the app and I took note that it was based in China. Hmmmm.
I could hear an alarm bell ringing in my head. I uninstalled the app and the warning notifications stopped. A match three game should never be using my camera. Imagine the possibilities here! Millions of non-techy people could have that same app installed and the Chinese could be taking pictures or simply watching you, where you are or whatever.
This is something that I never imagined could be really possible. I'm a Cold War girl and I was deathly afraid of the Soviets, but this! This is a layer of paranoia that is truly unimaginable. Think of the possibilities. What if military families have pictures taken when they're looking at a fighter jet? What if a security guard at a prison is holding his phone when he keys a code into something?
Yes, we can get paranoid and shake our heads believing that it's preposterous but explain to me why that simple match three game was using my camera?
Then today, I found something rather alarming. I have since learned that I want to know WHO makes these cool apps. I'm talking specifically about News Break. News Break has flowering reviews. In fact, at the time of this writing Google says it is the #1 News or News Magazine app. I kid you not. Now here's the scary part.
I visited the app's website and when to the About section. It says that Jeff Zheng is the co-founder. I Googled Jeff Zheng and found a young man who is a developer at Apple. The photo did not match. I then Googled the umbrella company, Particle Media.
Now, I found that his real name isn't Jeff. It's actually Zhaohui Zheng. Why Jeff? If he just wants a one-syllable nickname, then choose Zha or Hui. Right? Now, it's all well and good to pick an American nickname but why? What's wrong with your own culture? That told me he probably wasn't born here, but for that, I have no proof and it's simply supposition.
What I do have some proof about is that he graduated with a computer engineering degree in Buffalo, New York. Specifically it's from the famous University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. Yes, that's the name. He then went on to start his Particle Media company in San Jose, California.
It all sounds like he's an American doing business in America. Right?
WRONG!
There isn't a single degree listed from University at Buffalo. I'm not even sure why he attended that, since all his degrees actually come from China. This article (archive here, in case it disappears also use it for its original unchanged text) says, "He received his bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degrees from Tsinghua, Institute of Automation Chinese Academy of Sciences." It goes on to say that he even worked for the Chinese government! We'll take that even further, but before I do let me first remind you that the Chinese government controls the news media. Now that you understand that, would you be alarmed to find that he designed and ran a Chinese news company? What does that tell you?
Wouldn't China want to keep a man like that? Why would China let him leave? If he was born an American then they cannot make him stay, but if he were born in China, then they will have control over him.
Now it could be very innocent and I want to offer an alternative view. Perhaps he did manage to get out of China. Perhaps his running of news companies and his government appointment provided him the rare opportunity of seeing through the facade of censorship. Perhaps, just perhaps, he was so enamored by the freedom of speech, enjoyed by Americans, that when he was able to come to America he decided to spread that freedom via his news app.
Perhaps.
The point here is to not take any app with face value. Do your research and see if it is legitimate. If you are unsure, then skip it and go to something else. You need to form your own opinion.
In this instance, once I used the app I came to the conclusion that it was loaded with fake news. Actual fake news. That is pretty suspicious though fake news manages to make itself look legitimate sometimes. Still, someone with degrees such as his should know to test his algorithms and one test will reveal these items so he loses anyway.
It is truly tragic that we must worry about something like this. Truly. Unfortunately, many do not seem to care. They naively believe something like, "Well, if they're not doing anything wrong then why worry?"
You should worry because the more China learns about us, the more they can manipulate what we think and once they do that, then our government will eventually turn into one like theirs. Remember that millennials will be our future government and if they don't remember or understand, then where will our country be?
Then comes along something that is a bit uncomfortable. China has been known to hack into United States government computer systems. China is a communist nation. Many millennials (even people in their 30's and I know because I've met them) do not really understand what that means.
A quick lesson is (Wikipedia is pretty useless these days when trying to read something that should be easy) a basic Karl Marx teaching. That is that the government makes the decisions for you. They decide where you work, how much you make, etc. They take most of your money and put it in a pile. They pass that pile out to others. The only rich people are government workers and you have no chance for advancement, ever. They take a large portion of your money and keep it for themselves. They give you health care with a mortality rate (the noted article says, "China faces huge health care problems that make those of the United States seem almost trivial by comparison") that is very high and is call socialized health care for everyone, even if it's killing them. Karl Marx is the founder of communism as well as fascism. We all know how evil the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany was and so China, who follows this same philosophy is truly an enemy.
Democrats hate China because they use slave labor in manufacturing products many of which are traded to America. Conservatives hate China because there is a massive trade deficit (to explain that to newbs, in a quick and easy example: America trades sends one cow to China to be sold there, China in turn sends two cows to be sold in America; it is not an even trade, so Americans lose jobs due to that, while they take all our money). Consumers hate China because their products fall apart quickly. Even veterinarians hate China because they use poison in dog foods! I could go on and on. The end result is that no one in America should like — nor support — China, EVER!
Now! I told you all of that to tell you this.
My phone is an awesome Samsung Note 8, which I love! It has pretty good security system and even if I have given permission for access to some feature on my phone, it still lets me know when an app accesses that feature.
At first, I found that security warning annoying. I mean, I gave the app permission, so "Why is it telling me it's using my camera when I said it could?" I'd breathe in frustration! Until the day I got the notice that the a match three game app was using my camera.
You see, I had installed an app one day that was a Chinese game. I was quite impressed by it but unfortunately I cannot name it because I simply don't remember the name. It was a game, in any case, and was disappointingly fun. I say disappointing because I really would have loved to have kept it.
I stupidly assumed the warning about that app using my camera was a mistake and so ignored it, at first. Then I got another notice a day later. I ran a virus scan, thinking that something odd had happened but it had a clean bill of health. I then Googled the company of the app and I took note that it was based in China. Hmmmm.
I could hear an alarm bell ringing in my head. I uninstalled the app and the warning notifications stopped. A match three game should never be using my camera. Imagine the possibilities here! Millions of non-techy people could have that same app installed and the Chinese could be taking pictures or simply watching you, where you are or whatever.
This is something that I never imagined could be really possible. I'm a Cold War girl and I was deathly afraid of the Soviets, but this! This is a layer of paranoia that is truly unimaginable. Think of the possibilities. What if military families have pictures taken when they're looking at a fighter jet? What if a security guard at a prison is holding his phone when he keys a code into something?
Yes, we can get paranoid and shake our heads believing that it's preposterous but explain to me why that simple match three game was using my camera?
Then today, I found something rather alarming. I have since learned that I want to know WHO makes these cool apps. I'm talking specifically about News Break. News Break has flowering reviews. In fact, at the time of this writing Google says it is the #1 News or News Magazine app. I kid you not. Now here's the scary part.
I visited the app's website and when to the About section. It says that Jeff Zheng is the co-founder. I Googled Jeff Zheng and found a young man who is a developer at Apple. The photo did not match. I then Googled the umbrella company, Particle Media.
Now, I found that his real name isn't Jeff. It's actually Zhaohui Zheng. Why Jeff? If he just wants a one-syllable nickname, then choose Zha or Hui. Right? Now, it's all well and good to pick an American nickname but why? What's wrong with your own culture? That told me he probably wasn't born here, but for that, I have no proof and it's simply supposition.
What I do have some proof about is that he graduated with a computer engineering degree in Buffalo, New York. Specifically it's from the famous University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. Yes, that's the name. He then went on to start his Particle Media company in San Jose, California.
It all sounds like he's an American doing business in America. Right?
WRONG!
There isn't a single degree listed from University at Buffalo. I'm not even sure why he attended that, since all his degrees actually come from China. This article (archive here, in case it disappears also use it for its original unchanged text) says, "He received his bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degrees from Tsinghua, Institute of Automation Chinese Academy of Sciences." It goes on to say that he even worked for the Chinese government! We'll take that even further, but before I do let me first remind you that the Chinese government controls the news media. Now that you understand that, would you be alarmed to find that he designed and ran a Chinese news company? What does that tell you?
Wouldn't China want to keep a man like that? Why would China let him leave? If he was born an American then they cannot make him stay, but if he were born in China, then they will have control over him.
Now it could be very innocent and I want to offer an alternative view. Perhaps he did manage to get out of China. Perhaps his running of news companies and his government appointment provided him the rare opportunity of seeing through the facade of censorship. Perhaps, just perhaps, he was so enamored by the freedom of speech, enjoyed by Americans, that when he was able to come to America he decided to spread that freedom via his news app.
Perhaps.
The point here is to not take any app with face value. Do your research and see if it is legitimate. If you are unsure, then skip it and go to something else. You need to form your own opinion.
In this instance, once I used the app I came to the conclusion that it was loaded with fake news. Actual fake news. That is pretty suspicious though fake news manages to make itself look legitimate sometimes. Still, someone with degrees such as his should know to test his algorithms and one test will reveal these items so he loses anyway.
It is truly tragic that we must worry about something like this. Truly. Unfortunately, many do not seem to care. They naively believe something like, "Well, if they're not doing anything wrong then why worry?"
You should worry because the more China learns about us, the more they can manipulate what we think and once they do that, then our government will eventually turn into one like theirs. Remember that millennials will be our future government and if they don't remember or understand, then where will our country be?
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