Microsoft Sells Anti-Google Merchandise

Microsoft started a new merchandise campaign, called "Scroogle", and is selling it on their website. Scroogle is the name of a selection of anti-Google hoodies, t-shirts, mugs etc. Most of the merchandise centers on the accusations that Google exploits users private information. For example, merchandise will have messages such as "Keep calm while we steal your data" and "Step into our web" with a picture of spider on it. Google responded to this campaign by saying,  "Microsoft's latest venture comes as no surprise; competition in the wearables space really is heating up." Despite the disapproval of Google, Microsoft is still continuing with their venture. 

 

I believe this venture to be bold. While I do appreciate Microsoft trying to take the muck away from googles prestigious company I can't help but think this is simply a ploy for business. I do not see any solid evidence of the accusations on this merchandise. That makes this slanderous and could potentially harm Googles business. However I do believe that Google has the size and influence to bounce back from this campaign against them. 

Racial Profiling

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) defines racial profiling as "the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin," and is common practice in the U.S. Justice System. 

The leadership conference performed a study in Arizona and found "black drivers (4.5%) were twice as likely as White drivers (2.1%) to be arrested during a traffic stop, while Hispanic drivers (65%) were more likely than White (56.2%) or Black (55.8%) drivers to receive a ticket. In addition, Whites (9.7%) were more likely than Hispanics (5.9%) to receive a written warning, while Whites (18.6%) were more likely than Blacks (13.7%) to be verbally warned by police." When it came to searching minority motorists after a traffic stop, "Black (9.5%) and Hispanic (8.8%) motorists stopped by police were searched at higher rates than Whites (3.6%)." The "likelihood of experiencing a search did not change for Whites, Blacks, or Hispanics from 2002 to 2005." 

These statistics alarm me. I do not believe it is justified to use racial profiling because it sacrifices the fundamental rights of Americans for the sake of prejudice disguised as justice. 

Is Our Universe Infinite

For years scientists theorized about whether or not our universe is infinite. Unfortunately with modern science we cannot give a definitive answer however we can speculate. 

One speculation supports the theory that the universe is finite. If the universe is in fact limited then that must mean there is a point when the universe stops. So does that mean at a certain point we simply hit a wall? Not exactly. The running theory is comparative to an ant trapped in a spherical ball, the ant could travel in any direction and not notice when it passes it's starting point. Same conceptapples to our universe, if we travelled to the far reaches of the universe we would eventually reach the point where we started. 

In summary, though we do not know whether the universe is infinite or not it is still fun to speculate with theories and speculations.