Justin Black's Blog

Bitcoin for Dummies         Bitcoin has quickly surged to become the most talked about crypto-currency in the world, and one of the most highly valued, yet volatile assets that you can invest in today. It could hypothetically alter the way we value money in society, and continue to change our lives. Now I don't claim to be a guru on the in-and-outs of this highly complex technology, but I certainly have become very interested in the topic and would love to join the conversation.          Bitcoin has been a huge success story in a short amount of time. To put it in perspective, if you owned just $5 of Bitcoin 7 years ago, that $5 would be worth $4.4 million today. With this being said, I'm sure the first phase of your questions originates with the question "What even is a crypto-currency?". Today, crypto-currencies have become a global phenomenon that can be traded digitally as a secure and anonymous form of payment. Bitcoin was the first of it's kind to be

Apple's iPhone 8 vs. Samsung's Galaxy S8         Now I know that many people have conflicting views on this subject, and depending on what you're looking for there really is no absolute right answer. But with this being said, we can certainly compare the various specs and advantages each product brings to the smartphone industry. Everyone has different variables that carry more weight in personal preferences, so let's run through a few of these discrepancies in each of these impressive products. For starters, there's quite a difference in the pricing for these two smartphones, and this can often be a determining factor among many consumer purchase decisions. We'll start with the iPhone 8; the base model for this new phone is being priced at about $700. Now the Samsung Galaxy 8S is being priced at nearly $950. Historically, the Galaxy has been a bit cheaper than the iPhone, but this model seems to be a bit more for various reasons.  Now when it co

China Bans WhatApp         In one of the most recent developments in the technology circle, China has decided to block all text messages from the popular communication app. Previously, China has been determined to block all pictures and video chats. This is a huge development in the battle between the government of China and Facebook, who coincidentally owns WhatsApp. China has been the one major country that has refused to allow Facebook into it's borders since 2009, and this is another blow to Facebook's aspirations to expand it's reach into the population of China.          China has been one of the most censored countries in the world, in the sense that it's government doesn't allow any encrypted data into its borders. It also doesn't want outside photo or video streaming services in it's country because this makes it difficult to monitor what it's citizens will see from day to day. And because it is a communist country, it wants to keep a t

        Apple just announced it's plans to release three new models of it's infamous iPhone, and these models offer quite a few new advantages to user preferences. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus have a lot to offer for it's users, but the hype is surrounded around the brilliantly designed iPhone X. Before we look into the specs that this new iPhone comes with, let's take a quick glimpse at the pricing for these new models. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus come in at $699 and $799, respectively, but the iPhone X will start at $999, and depending on how many GB you want it could cost you upwards of $1,149. This bring us to our conversation: is it worth it?         The iPhone X possesses some of the most advanced technology that exists today. Some of these attributes with noting include the new Face ID feature that unlocks the phone. Apple advertises how this significantly enhances security among the phone, and additionally says that this feature is very reliable. To access it, all

Social Media has begun to submerge itself into the News Industry         Traditionally our news sources have been from Television corporations such as CNN, Fox News, or MSNBC, but there has been a trend amongst Americans of all ages towards a new way of receiving news everyday. This new trend is how social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Youtube, and others have not only dipped their toes into the industry, but have even begun to catch the attention of adults of all ages. We're all aware of the reach and influence that social media has on today's society, and how it has been substantially been altering our lives every day. With this being said, it's astonishing to think about the potential power that these companies could one day soon have within this developing industry.             Today, the primary social platform that adults use is Facebook. Over 66% of adults in America are engaged everyday in Facebook, and according to Pew Research Center ne

Is Snap Inc. Doomed to Fail?      Snap Inc. is the parent company to the social media platform many of us use every day, Snapchat. Yes on the surface Snapchat is very popular amongst our generation of young adults (ages ranging from 14 to 25), but this is also one of the biggest problems Snap Inc. has been trying to deal with. Since their existence, they have had to compete with the Tech Kings of the world, Facebook. And unfortunately for Snapchat, Facebook has already acquired many other social platforms such as Instagram, Whats App, and many other start ups. In fact, Facebook's CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg offered Evan Spiegel (Snap Inc. CEO) $3 billion for his popular social platform back in 2013 in an attempt to gain back the declining engagement of it's teenage users. But since that decision to decline the deal by Evan Spiegel, both companies have substantially expanded their values; but one more so than the other.      Today, Snap Inc. is value at around $14 billio