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takyon writes:

Instagram will filter out bullying comments

At the F8 conference today, it was announced that Instagram will filter out bullying comments from posts, starting today. This includes anything "intended to harass or upset people in our community," the platform's CEO said in a post. Doing this will ensure Instagram remains "an inclusive, supportive place for all voices," he wrote.

From our CEO kevin "Starting today, Instagram will filter bullying comments intended to harass or upset people in our community. To be clear: we don't tolerate bullying on Instagram. Our Community Guidelines have always prohibited bullying on our platform, and I'm proud to announce this next step in our ongoing commitment to keeping Instagram an inclusive, supportive place for all voices. We also believe in promoting kindness — encouraging our community to support one another both on and off Instagram. On Saturday we will host a Kindness Prom to celebrate people on our platform who are spreading positivity. These young leaders are inspiring their peers by helping kindness, acceptance and support grow on Instagram and in the world. Since Mike and I founded Instagram, it's been our goal to make it a safe place for self-expression and to foster kindness within the community. This update is just the next step in our mission to deliver on that promise."

The filter will be enabled automatically, but can be disabled. Regardless of a user's settings, the filter will be able to automatically flag comments for official review. Facebook's DeepText machine learning algorithm is used to review words for context and meaning.

Also at NYT and The Verge.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

The Akademik Lomonosov, under construction since 2007, has been launched. The barge,

has a length of 144 metres (472 ft) and width of 30 metres (98 ft). It has a displacement of 21,500 tonnes and a crew of 69 people. For the power generation, it has two modified KLT-40 naval propulsion reactors together providing up to 70 MW of electricity or 300 MW of heat.

According to Engadget:

Starting from St Petersburg, it will be towed around Norway to a Russian town called Murmansk to take on nuclear fuel. From there, it will head to the Arctic to power the oil-industry town of Pevek, along with a desalination plant and drilling rigs. While it's not the first floating nuclear plant -- the US used one from 1968 to 1975 -- it will be the first one in almost 40 years.

Futurism reports that:

Rosatom, the government-owned Russian energy company that developed the Lomonosov, released a statement saying that the floating reactor will be "invincible" to tsunamis and other natural disasters, and that it has met all the requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The company argues that they have rendered Lomonosov harmless to the environment.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow4408

Comcast keeps losing TV subscribers, but it has a new way to fight cord cutting.

As streaming video continues to chip away at cable TV subscriber numbers, Comcast is making some of its Internet speed increases available only to customers that pay for both Internet and video service.

Last week, Comcast announced speed increases for customers in Houston and the Oregon/SW Washington areas. The announcement headlines were "Comcast increases Internet speeds for some video customers."

Customers with 60Mbps Internet download speeds are being upped to 150Mbps; 150Mbps subscribers are going to 250Mbps; and 250Mbps subscribers are getting a raise to 400Mbps or 1Gbps.

Comcast says speed increases will kick in automatically without raising the customers' monthly bills—but only if they subscribe to certain bundles that include both Internet and TV service.

Source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/04/comcast-wont-give-new-speed-boost-to-internet-users-who-dont-buy-tv-service/

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

FIFA, Overwatch, Counter-Strike: GO could face fines and prison penalties.

The Belgian Gaming Commission has determined that randomized loot boxes in at least three games count as "games of chance," and publishers could therefore be subject to fines and prison sentences under the country's gaming legislation.

A statement by Belgian Minister of Justice Koen Geens (machine translation) identifies loot boxes in Overwatch, FIFA 18, and Counter Strike: Global Offensive as meeting the criteria for that "game of chance" definition: i.e., "there is a game element [where] a bet can lead to profit or loss and chance has a role in the game." The Commission also looked at Star Wars: Battlefront II and determined that the recent changes EA made to the game means it "no longer technically forms a game of chance."

Beyond that simple definition, the Gaming Commission expressed concern over games that draw in players with an "emotional profit forecast" of randomized goods, where players "buy an advantage with real money without knowing what benefit it would be." The fact that these games don't disclose the odds of receiving specific in-game items is also worrisome, the Commission said.

[...] Belgium's decision follows on a similar finding in the Netherlands, which specifically called out loot boxes in FIFA 18, DotA 2, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and Rocket League for illegal gambling activities. In the United States, legislators in Hawaii, Washington state, and the US Senate continue to look into loot box regulations, even as industry bodies like the Entertainment Software Rating Board downplay the need for such actions.

[ TMB Note: We deeply apologize for using that word outside of a serious screenplay. ]

Source: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/04/video-game-loot-boxes-are-now-considered-criminal-gambling-in-belgium/

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for DrexlSpivey

The CIA can selectively divulge classified information to selected reporters in emails yet withhold that information from other journalists or members of the public when they seek the same information under the Freedom of Information Act, a federal judge in New York has ruled.

The decision appeared in the court record on Friday but became more widely disseminated Monday.

The ruling comes amid vigorous national debate over leaks to the media and the use of anonymous sources in covering national security news, including an ongoing FBI investigation into Russian attempts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York ruled that the CIA does not have to release parts of five emails senior CIA officials sent to journalists from the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and The Washington Post in 2012. At the time, the CIA was facing pressure over links it may have had to a Pakistani doctor who helped American forces hunt down Osama bin Laden.

Source: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/national-security/article210169704.html

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

Facebook is trying to block Schrems II privacy referral to EU top court. In an attempt to get Ireland's Supreme Court to decide about accepting their appeal, their lawyer has asked for the referral to the EU court to be delayed while at the same time asking for an unusal accelerated referral to Ireland's Supreme Court.

Facebook’s lawyers are attempting to block a High Court decision in Ireland, where its international business is headquartered, to refer a long-running legal challenge to the bloc’s top court.

[...] The case relates to a complaint filed by privacy campaigner and lawyer Max Schrems regarding a transfer mechanism that’s currently used by thousands of companies to authorize flows of personal data on EU citizens to the US for processing. Though Schrems was actually challenging the use of so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) by Facebook, specifically, when he updated an earlier complaint on the same core data transfer issue — which relates to US government mass surveillance practices, as revealed by the 2013 Snowden disclosures — with Ireland’s data watchdog.

Also at Reuters : Facebook bids to keep data privacy case from EU's top court.

Earlier on SN:
High Court Sets Out 11 Questions for ECJ on EU-US Data Transfers
Austria Resident Max Schrems is Organizing a Privacy-Oriented Class-Action Suit Against Facebook
EU Top Court Rules Safe Harbour Treaty Invalid

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

Google will slowly be rolling out a number of changes for consumer Gmail users and G Suite users. Some of the changes improve usability and productivity, while others are meant to maximize data and user protection. Some of the new security options should help enterprise users meed GDPR compliance needs.

[...] Gmail confidential mode will allow users to:

• Set expiration dates for emails or revoke previously sent messages
• Secure access to the contents of emails by requiring recipients to enter a password
• Restrict the recipients’ ability to forward, copy, download or print emails.

These things will be possible because these emails will not be actually downloaded in the recipients’ inbox, but will be placed on a separate page/window where their content can be viewed, and the email will show that page.

Guess I'll be switching to ProtonMail for my webmail needs, which, granted, are few.

Source: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2018/04/26/gmail-self-destructing-emails/

Original Submission

takyon writes:

UC San Diego to use controversial marijuana compound to treat severe autism

UC San Diego will try to alleviate severe autism in children by giving them a non-psychoactive chemical found in marijuana, a project funded by the biggest private donation ever made in the U.S. for such research.

The $4.7 million study involves the controversial compound cannabidiol, or CBD, which is widely marketed nationwide as something of a miracle drug, capable of treating everything from cancer to post-traumatic stress disorder.

[...] UC San Diego dealt with the issue by asking the Ray and Tye Noorda Foundation of Lindon, Utah, for $4.7 million to study whether CBD can ease the most severe symptoms of autism, including seizures, self-injuring behavior, and crippling anxiety. The foundation agreed, and it is urging the federal government to remove marijuana from its list of Schedule 1 drugs so that cannabis can be widely studied.

Related: 4/20: The Mary Jane Majority
US experts back marijuana-based drug for childhood seizures

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Apple is reportedly working on an untethered VR-AR headset that would feature an 8K resolution per eye:

Apple has long been rumored to be working on a pair of augmented reality glasses, but a report today suggests that they're looking to compete with Google, Microsoft and Facebook in the virtual reality space as well.

CNET reports that Apple has its eye set on the 2020 release of a wireless headset that combines AR and VR technologies. The report also gives specific details for the project internally referred to as T288. Namely, sources told CNET that the headset will have an 8K display for each eye and will connect wirelessly to a dedicated "box."

One of the general assumptions many in the market had been operating under was that Apple might "skip" entertainment-focused VR altogether in favor of approaching the lifestyle-focused AR technologies that put a digital layer between users and the real world.

Apple may use its own MicroLED displays for headsets. Apple also has a patent for an eye-tracking system that could be used in a headset.

Also at The Verge, Fortune, and BGR.

Original Submission

Appalbarry writes:

CBC reports that a Canadian man has taken the giant Bell Canada corporation to small claims court after they tried to increase his cable and internet prices despite the phone salesperson promising a fixed price for twenty four months.

The sales agent told (David) Ramsay he could get Bell's Fibe TV and internet services "for $112.90 a month for 24 months" and then said he'd get an "email confirmation of everything that was just discussed."

But when the email arrived, it said prices were actually "subject to change" and that Bell was planning to increase its price for internet service by $5, two months later.

Ramsey, who was self represented, argued that he had a verbal contract with Bell. The judge agreed and ordered Bell to pay Ramsay $1,110 to cover the cost of damages, his time, inconvenience and miscellaneous costs. In the lead up to the trial Bell made two attempts to buy him off with offers of $300, then $1000, but insisted on a non-disclosure agreement. Ramsay refused, hoping that a successful case would lead to many other long-suffering Canadians to launch similar suits.

In Canada Bell, Telus, and Rogers control most of the telephone, wireless, and cable markets, as well as most television, radio, and publishing. Canadians pay among the highest prices of any country for what most people consider some of the worst service.

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow8317

Twitter is the latest company to face scrutiny for how it protects user data, after disclosing this week that it sold data access to a Cambridge Analytica-linked researcher.

The news comes a month after Facebook came under fire for leaking user data to Cambridge Analytica through a third-party app. A Twitter spokesperson told Threatpost that enterprise company Global Science Research, owned by the same researcher behind Cambridge Analytica, had "one-time API access" to a "random sample of public tweets" in 2015.

"Based on the recent reports, we conducted our own internal review and did not find any access to private data about people who use Twitter," the spokesperson told Threatpost. "Unlike many other services, Twitter is public by its nature. People come to Twitter to speak publicly, and public tweets are viewable and searchable by anyone."

Source: https://threatpost.com/twitter-sold-data-to-cambridge-analytica-linked-company/131525/

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Disgraced surgeon is still publishing on stem cell therapies

Paolo Macchiarini, an Italian surgeon, has been fired from two institutions and faces the retraction of many of his papers after findings of scientific misconduct and ethical lapses in his research—yet this hasn't prevented him from publishing again in a peer-reviewed journal. Despite his circumstances, Macchiarini appears as senior author on a paper published last month investigating the viability of artificial esophagi "seeded" with stem cells, work that appears strikingly similar to the plastic trachea transplants that ultimately left most of his patients dead. The journal's editor says he was unaware of Macchiarini's history before publishing the study.

"I'm really surprised," says cardiothoracic surgeon Karl-Henrik Grinnemo, one of the whistle-blowers who exposed Macchiarini's misconduct at the Karolinska Institute (KI) in Stockholm. "I can't understand how a serious editorial board can accept manuscripts from this guy."

Macchiarini was once heralded as a pioneer of regenerative medicine because of his experimental transplants of artificial tracheas that supposedly developed into functional organs when seeded with a patient's stem cells. But his career came crashing down after the Swedish documentary Experimenten showed the poor outcomes of his patients, all but one of whom have now died. (The lone survivor was able to have his implant removed.) Macchiarini was subsequently fired from KI, both the university and a national ethics board found him guilty of scientific misconduct in several papers, and Swedish authorities are now considering whether to reopen a criminal case against him.

In vitro assessment of electrospun polyamide‐6 scaffolds for esophageal tissue engineering (DOI: 10.1002/jbm.b.34116) (DX)

Previously: Nobel Prize for Medicine Judges Asked to Resign for Involvement in Scandal
Thoracic Surgeon Loses Funding After Paper Retraction

Original Submission

-- OriginalOwner_ writes:

Associated Press affiliate KTAR-FM reports

[...] after 25-year-old Xavier Moran was involved in a crash on April 5, he told a sheriff's deputy he had been cut off by another driver and could prove it with his dashboard camera. He then signed a consent waiver to search the camera.

When the Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputy reviewed the footage, he saw Moran burglarizing a beauty store. Authorities say the video showed Moran taking a baseball bat from the trunk and someone using the bat to break the glass door to the store.

He was arrested [April 10] on burglary charges.

Boing Boing further reports that the guy just can't stay out of trouble.

I first heard the story via NPR's "news" quiz show "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me".

Original Submission

takyon writes:

CRISPR study reduces cholesterol in mice without "editing" DNA

Rather than hacking away with genetic scissors, recent work has instead used CRISPR to temporarily turn certain genes on and off through epigenetic modulation. In that vein, the new study developed a CRISPR-Cas9 repressor system that can silence a gene called Pcsk9, which regulates cholesterol levels. The Duke researchers managed to package this system and deliver it into the livers of adult mice.

"We previously used these same types of tools to turn genes on and off in cultured cells, and we wanted to see if we could also deliver them to animal models with an approach that is relevant for gene therapy," says Charles Gersbach, lead researcher on the study. "We wanted to change the genes in a way that would have a therapeutic outcome, and Pcsk9 is a useful proof-of-concept given its role regulating cholesterol levels, which in turn affect health issues like heart disease."

The researchers started with a Cas9 enzyme taken from the bacteria species Staphylococcus aureus, and to keep it from making cuts to the target DNA, they created a "dead" version dubbed dCas9. This was bundled with a KRAB protein that silences gene expression, and the combination was then packaged inside adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors – viruses that are engineered to carry the active ingredients to the right DNA target.

In their tests, the Duke researchers delivered the system to adult mice, where it activated in their livers. Compared to a control group that had simple saline injections, the Pcsk9 genes in the test mice were successfully repressed and the animals' cholesterol levels dropped as a result. Better yet, the effects of a single treatment lasted six months.

RNA-guided transcriptional silencing in vivo with S. aureus CRISPR-Cas9 repressors (open, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04048-4) (DX)

Related: CRISPR Used to Reduce Tissue Inflammation and Damage
CRISPR Used to Epigenetically Treat Diseases in Mice

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

BBC News reports

More than 500 students and teachers were evacuated from a university in Melbourne, Australia, as a result of a smell initially suspected to be gas.

But it turned out the "gas" that students smelt at a Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology library was a rotting durian found in a cupboard.

[...]

Durians are a prized fruit in South East Asia with a sweet and creamy flesh, but their smell can take some getting used to.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Huawei may have a backup OS in case it has to drop Android

It'd be hard to blame Huawei executives if they're feeling very nervous lately. The US has created havoc for ZTE by renewing an export ban over trade violations, potentially depriving it of its Android license and leaving it without a platform. How would Huawei avoid a similar fate? Simple: it would use its own operating system instead. South China Morning Post sources have claimed that Huawei has been developing its own mobile operating system (there are reportedly tablet and PC equivalents) ever since it and ZTE faced an American investigation in 2012. It's considered an investment for "worst-case scenarios," the insiders said.

The company hasn't released this OS because it isn't up to Android's level of quality and app support, the sources added.

Huawei hasn't confirmed or denied the software's existence, saying only that it "has no plans" to launch an in-house OS in the "foreseeable future" -- if there is one, there's no rush to use it. There was a purported meeting leak in 2012 that referenced a new platform.

See also: ZTE and the Unknown Unknowns

Related: U.S. Intelligence Agency Heads Warn Against Using Huawei and ZTE Products
Huawei CEO Still Committed to the U.S. Market

Original Submission