STORYLINE

Automated Phixicom System Exposes Flaws, Displays Inappropriate Content During Festival

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Many attending the annual Capital Days celebration downtown, were exposed to a little more than they expected Saturday afternoon, when a new Phxicom presentation service malfunctioned displaying snippets of inappropriate videos to the assembled crowd. The incident happened during an appearance of noted author, and Lahaina native Kevin Morrow, who was promoting his newest book, “Aloha and You.” Officials say the adult-oriented videos and charts were only visible for a few minutes before the system was shutdown, however a number of official complaints have been filed. Phxicom says they are looking into the incident.

Commemorating Lahaina’s designation as the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1820, Capital Days is a celebration of heritage, history, and all things Hawaiian. Morrow was one of the first guest speakers booked by organizers this year. His most recent project, “Aloha and You” looks at the ancient beginnings of the Aloha spirit, examining how it penetrated into modern society, and the future of peace, love, and compassion. Because it is such a wide ranging topic, the author decided to make use of a new automated assistant service offered by Phxicom, and things quickly went down hill.

Promising to “change the way you prepare your presentations,” Presentmate Plus harnesses the power of Phxie, Phxicom’s AI, to offer real-time research and graphics to any speech or presentation. The service promises seamless integration of facts and figures, freeing up hours of tedious research and organizing slides, so presenters can just lay back and enjoy the ride, while the system does all the hard work.

Scott Parata, Phxicom’s Regional Operations Manager, says the system is terrific and is usually very reliable.

“Presentmate Plus is the future of public speaking. Phxie is able to research any subject and delve into vast stores of data much more quickly than is humanly possible. The system is completely neutral and non-partisan. It simply finds the perfect graphic or image for whatever you are addressing. No matter what your take on an issue, Presentmate Plus will find the information to back-up your position, and the figures and graphs to help sway your audience. Business is moving faster than ever, and the first to get out their ideas usually wins. Our system allows for complete, penetrating, professional quality presentations, leaving our customers completely satisfied. Unfortunately, in this toe curling case, something obviously went wrong. We apologize for anyone who was offended. We’re adding a number of protocols, and a safe word that will shut everything down in a hurry.”

Witnesses say that Morrow’s symposium on the Aloha Spirit was uneventful for the first few minutes with appropriate slides and images appearing behind him, but things soon heated up. Private emails between Kevin and ex-partners began to appear, “The whole thing went to hell pretty fast,” says George Harwell, a tourist visiting from St. Louis. “It started with old messages Kevin sent to his ex, asking for her back. To be honest they were pretty pathetic, lots of whining and promising to change. It was so embarrassing that I thought about turning away for a minute. I’m glad I didn’t! Then, charts about the STD rates in Maui over the last 20 years popped up, and some of the guy’s prescription information. People started laughing, and then the adult stuff came on. Most were of Morrow and his ex-wife. I guess some of those old emails worked. Morrow was screaming, “End Presentation!” over and over again, while trying to cover up the most graphic parts with his body and hands. Well, that just made it worse, people were doubled over laughing, and a few got mad and left. Finally, the video stopped and organizers began to apologize. I’m not sure if I know anything more about the aloha spirit than I knew before, but I do know I’m never going to use anything like Presentmate Plus at work or around decent company.”

Morrow says that he is disappointed that his message was overshadowed by the unfortunate incident, “It goes without saying that this was not what I meant by going out of your way to love all of your neighbors. I personally do not endorse or encourage the sorts of group activities that were on display behind me at the presentation.” Despite the obvious flaw in Phxicom’s technology, Morrow doesn’t completely blame the AI for the debacle. He says a faulty interface, and the system’s designers should shoulder the blame for the unfortunate incident.

“A clearly marked, and easy to use settings menu would have gone a long way here. With so much of our daily routines depending on technology, companies are pushing innovation faster and harder than ever, but that same vigor for new features doesn’t seem to be translating to basic user controls. If there were a “don’t display personal correspondence” or a “don’t play adult oriented video” box for me to click, I would have certainly done so. In fact, after careful review there are a number of troubling and salacious subjects that have no opt-out option in Presentmate Plus. If Phxicom had a more complete settings menu, or more prominent “Stop” button, I might have been able to end the obscene display and charts behind me, and people could have stopped recording the event quicker. I believe that this would have limited the number views of the YouTube video documenting my embarrassment, which stands at no less than 250,169 at this point.”

STORYLINE

Veilad Wants to Help You Power Your Vehicle

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A popular program in Lahaina that offers charging credits for electric vehicles in exchange for advertising is set to expand to all of Hawaii. The expansion comes just one year before the state mandated goal of having all ground transportation use renewable energy sources. Started in early 2043, the plan is a joint venture between Veilcorp spinoff, Veilad, and Phxicom.

Veilad has helmed many successful campaigns over the years including branded Reality Machine merchandise, and ads while you travel through the veil, but it was their corporate sponsored animal campaign that served as inspiration for the charging program. “The safety of the Duracave elephant herd served as the impetus for our charging initiative. We thought that giving an owner the chance to brand their vehicle in exchange for Veilcorp charging credit was a win-win situation. However, it wasn’t until we learned about Phxicom’s amazing sprayable display technology that our plan really took off,” says Veilad’s president Brie Howard.

Phxicom spokesperson Scott Parata adds, “Veilcorp has more charging stations than any other company on the island, and with Hawaii’s push to expand the use of EVs, the program sounded like an amazing opportunity. We’re glad we get a chance to show off the capabilities of our sprayable display while doing something to help the environment.”

Owners simply bring their vehicles to a participating facility and have the sprayable display installed on part, or all of their vehicle, depending on which plan they choose. Veilad then runs various advertisements that change depending on location. At the end of the month enrollees get a charging credit usable at any Veilcorp charging station.

The basic program covers the doors and hood of a vehicle and displays a different ad a few times a day. Brie says that for the average driver, the basic program can cover about 25% of their monthly charging bill. The premium program covers the entire vehicle with the Phxicom technology, and offers a much bigger payout.

In addition to covering your whole vehicle, the premium program is much more advanced. Sensors in the display track where a driver is in real time, and displays ads for businesses nearby or of particular interests. For example, if you find yourself near Black Rock Beach, ads relating to swimming and snorkeling will display. Further, the technology will play an accompanying audio track to ads if it senses it is in a high traffic area, regardless of whether or not it is being driven. According to Howard, participants in the premium charging program can expect to never pay a charging bill again.

While the program is a popular one, it is not without its detractors. Many consider the branded vehicles an eyesore. Others complain that the audio ads amount to nothing more than noise pollution, and that they disturb the peace and tranquility of natural areas. Maui police say that complaints about loudly playing ads number in the thousands. There’s also the problem of inappropriate items slipping through. Veilad admits that “there were some kinks to work out at first” but emphasizes that complaints about questionable content have shrunk to almost zero.

However, local resident Elizabeth Stonegate says the problem has been an ongoing one for her.

“It’s to the point where I don’t dare drive the van anymore. The problem started when I took my son and some of his friends to soccer practice. I saw people staring as I drove in, and assumed that they were staring at me. As President of the Tanager Lane Home Owners Association I get recognized a lot, it’s actually a little tiring. Anyway, after we stopped and got out I saw what everyone was staring at. My entire van had been turned into a disgusting advertisement for a questionable dating site. Then the audio began and I was mortified. Since then many of my son’s friends have asked if they could start carpooling with us. Even worse, Shelby had the audacity to question my judgment and fitness as head of the HOA. Even though everyone knows she’s still upset about the whole cat carrier incident, she never dared test my authority before. I work hard on projecting a perfect image. I will not be brought down because some company thinks they can make a buck off of lonely soccer parents.”

Brie reiterates that such issues are the exception rather than the rule and says that Veilad continues to work hard to screen their ad inventory. “For most people it’s an easy way to drive without paying for fuel. It offers valuable information to potential consumers, and is the best way available for a business to communicate its message. If you can live with driving a theme car, we’ll pay for the fuel,” she says.

STORYLINE

Services At County Satellite Kiosks Remain Limited After Security Breach

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9 automated city hall kiosks remain closed today, after an apparent security breach that disrupted services and put the data of thousands in jeopardy. Hundreds have experienced ongoing issues with the Phxicom systems. Officials say that If the problem is not resolved by Saturday, they are considering asking police to waive citations to drivers with vehicle registration tags that expire this month.

“Yes, we are still experiencing outages and slower response times,” County spokesperson Ellen Pahili says. “It’s affecting vehicle registration, state IDs, moped and bicycle registration, out-of-state license transfers, bus passes, county tax records anything that affects Maui County having to access the City and County’s main frame. However, we are working hard with our Phxicom partners to fix the issues. In the meantime we are still able to process Hailoha renewals and provide disabled parking placards.”

Pahili says they have rolled back all Phxicom related changes to the system, and are tracking down the source of the changes. They have hired an outside security firm to go over the compromised systems to help assess the scope of the intrusions and identify any other potential problems. Officials urge users to change their passwords and PIN numbers, and remind residents that nobody from the county or Phxicom will ever ask for their passwords. Local tech gadfly Ano Lee says that he’s disappointed but not surprised that the kiosks were targeted. “Everyone knows how insecure Phxicom equipment is. When they installed their terminals in the preservation zone, people had a field day breaking into them. I would suggest the county listen closely to whatever their outside security firm says and act on their recommendations.”

What was supposed to be a model for the future of efficient governance and citizen interactions, has turned into a nightmare for Mayor Cravalho, Phxicom, and residents alike. Phxicom’s kiosks were supposed to provide citizens with a fast and easy way to conduct business and obtain a wide array of permits, passes, and licenses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But the problems are not confined to customers trying to use the kiosks, many who’ve had their data exposed have experienced problems too.

Local noodle shop owner “Uncle” Ralph Umeke says that he received a notice last week that was quite a shock. “I don’t cheat anyone, not customers, not tourists, and certainly not the government. I pay my taxes on time and I’ve never even filed for an extension. Imagine my surprise when I got a notice that I had 90 days to come up with $105,573.60 for back taxes. According to the County I hadn’t paid my property taxes for the past 6 years. I told everyone they had to leave, closed the shop, and marched right down to Cravalho’s office to find out what the hell the problem was. They told me it was all the fault of that Phxicom AI.”

Following the success of SSHAM’s customer service AI Shawn, Phxicom began working on their own system to oversee the operations of the kiosks and Phxie was created. According to Scott Parata, Phxicom’s Regional Operations Manager, the AI was thoroughly tested before being put into service but fell victim to a group using social engineering techniques to gain access to sensitive systems. A statement released by the company reads in part,

“It appears that Phxie’s urge to be helpful led to some unintended consequences in this case. We have taken steps to improve its security protocols and have ensured nothing like this will happen again. We understand that the months of quality service before this incident is little comfort to those inconvenienced by this breach and we apologize. We would like to point out however, that Phxie continues to operate 11 more such programs across the islands efficiently and without incident. We’ve addressed the issues leading to this unfortunate event and are working hard to expedite any further delays and regain your trust.”

However, that trust may be hard to win back for some. Lahaina resident John Driscol says that the security breach didn’t just put his data at risk; It endangered his life. He says that an incorrectly cancelled buss pass left him stranded and afraid for his well being.

“The beaches are a little too busy for my tastes these days. Lately I’ve been taking the bus to the furthest stop from town and walking into the preservation zone for some peace and quiet. There’s a little stream I like to sit next to because the sound of the water drowns out the birds. Those things can really make a racket on a sunny day. Anyway, I got a little too comfortable and fell asleep. Next thing you know it’s dusk and I have run back to catch the last bus. When the reader scanned my pass it was denied. I tried a couple more times to no avail. I tried to tell the driver that the system was wrong, that I paid for a full year, but I was too winded from running. When I stepped off to catch my breath, he just left without me. I reached for my phone but I must have dropped it while I was running. My house is at least 9 miles from where I was. The farthest I’ve ever walked was 5 miles, and that was back in college. I knew it was going to be an ordeal but I didn’t have a choice, and started the long journey back. I made good time for the first couple miles but then fatigue began to set in. I stumbled for hours in the dark. I can’t tell you how cold it was. I’m not sure if they can test if you had hypothermia in the past or not, but I feel like I definitely had it that night. Finally, I saw some headlights. It was a tourist in one of those public Manimal ATVs. I usually make it a rule to never ride in one because of their reputation, but I was so cold that I took the risk. Phxicom and the County better hope I didn’t catch any weird forest disease while I was walking out there.”