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An Anonymous Coward writes:

New Zealand has sunk to a new low in modern education. A number of high school students have started a petition to not be failed on a national history exam as they did not understand the meaning of the word 'trivial'. For those not in the know, trivial means "of little value or importance" which aptly describes this petition given that it is being made by grade 13 high school students who by all rights should know the meaning of this word. More than 2400 people have signed the petition 'expressing their frustration with the exam question'. Student Logan Stadnyk claimed that he was "lucky" to have known what the word meant, as half his class didn't. "New Zealand History Teachers' Association chairman Graeme Ball has sided with the students calling the exam a 'little bit of a snafu'" but not providing an adequate answer as to why students in grade 13 would not understand a common English word.

Have the three Rs lost all meaning in schools? Are we failing our students? Or is this just another case of today's teens being snowflakes?

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/16/18098415/robocaller-congress-fcc-penalities-traced-act

The TRACED Act, sponsored by Sens. John Thune (R-SD), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Roger Wicker (R-MS), would dramatically increase the penalty per robocall to up to $10,000. Previously, violators were charged with up to $1,500 per call. Currently, the Federal Communications Commission can only prosecute violators over inauthentic calls that were placed in the past year. This bill increases that time frame to three years. In previous letters to the senators, the commission said that "even a one-year longer statute of limitations for enforcement. . . would improve the Commission's enforcement efforts against knowing and willful violators."

Earlier this year, the FCC inflicted a $120 million fine on a robocall kingpin. It was one of the largest fines ever implemented for robocall violations, and it signified that the federal government would prioritize lessening the burden of these calls on consumers. This bill generally gives the FCC more power to act on these calls, and this new power has the potential to dissuade others from placing them.

takyon writes:

Google accused of 'trust demolition' over health app

A controversial health app developed by artificial intelligence firm DeepMind will be taken over by Google, it has been revealed.

Streams was first used to send alerts in a London hospital but hit headlines for gathering data on 1.6 million patients without informing them. DeepMind now wants the app to become an AI assistant for nurses and doctors around the world. One expert described the move as "trust demolition".

The news that Streams would be joining Google was announced in a DeepMind blogpost. "Our vision is for Streams to now become an AI-powered assistant for nurses and doctors everywhere - combining the best algorithms with intuitive design, all backed up by rigorous evidence. "The team working within Google, alongside brilliant colleagues from across the organisation, will help make this vision a reality."

Also at The Verge and The Guardian.

See also: Google gobbling DeepMind's health app might be the trust shock we need

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Former Instagram CEO: Policing social media is important to the future of the world

Instagram co-founder and former CEO Kevin Systrom said it is important for the future of the world that social media companies be policed well and seriously address the issues of misinformation and harassment on their services.

Systrom said Russian meddling in U.S. elections and the exploitation of Facebook user data by Cambridge Analytica have highlighted just how big social media companies have become and the implications of their reach.

[...] In particular, Systrom highlighted "deepfakes," which are highly-believable doctored videos that are beginning to make their way onto social services. This emerging type of fake content will be among the next set of problems social media companies will have to contend with, he said. "It's getting on the margin of real," Systrom said. "In an era when you can distribute information widely to the world very, very quickly and amplify it, what happens when you think some political figure said something they didn't?"

Facebook says it's creating an independent body to help it decide which content to remove

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday said the company will establish an independent body to oversee user appeals of content removal, one day after a bombshell report that detailed how the company avoided and deflected blame in the public conversation around its handling of Russian interference and other misuses of its social network.

The move could help Facebook avoid accusations of bias as it removes material deemed problematic, like fake news and hate speech. Some conservative groups and lawmakers have accused Facebook and other social media outlets of censoring politically conservative points of view, a charge that Facebook denies.

See also: Facebook confirmed Mark Zuckerberg's beef with Apple CEO Tim Cook in an official company statement
Mark Zuckerberg reportedly ordered all Facebook executives to use Android phones

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Microsoft opens the door to better Windows on ARM apps

Microsoft is removing one of the big limitations of Windows on ARM this week by allowing developers to create 64-bit ARM (ARM64) apps. Developers will be able to recompile existing win32 or Universal Windows Apps to run natively on Windows 10 on ARM hardware. That means 64-bit app performance should get a lot better, as long as developers take the time to recompile.

Microsoft is now relying on developers to use its tools to improve its Windows on ARM efforts. That's a situation the software giant has found itself in before, relying on developers to create Universal Windows Apps for Windows 8, Windows 10, and Windows Phone apps for a variety of new touch-based hardware. It's hard to say whether 64-bit app support will really help move Windows on ARM into the mainstream, but it's certainly laying the ground work for a bigger push by Microsoft.

Also at TechRadar.

Related: Microsoft Document Details Windows 10 on ARM Limitations
VLC Becomes One of First ARM64 Windows Apps

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/16/18098855/microsoft-windows-10-email-mail-app-advertising-pilot-program

Do you use the default Mail client on your PC, the one that comes with Windows 10, to read your email? How would you feel if Microsoft decided to throw in a few ads right at the top of your inbox?

These aren't rhetorical questions — as Windows news site Aggiornamenti Lumia noticed today, Microsoft is already testing that exact idea in a number of countries around the world. According to Microsoft's FAQ, what we're seeing is a pilot program, an experiment, a test that'll theoretically help the company decide if it should actually roll out the feature for real.

Update, 11:52 AM PT: Microsoft comms head Frank Shaw tells us the company has decided to turn these ads off. He also says the experiment was never intended to be tested broadly, which doesn't quite jibe with the existence of a FAQ about a pilot program taking place in several countries around the world, but either way the ads should be gone.

Original Submission

martyb writes:

Up to Three Million Kids' GPS Watches can be Tracked by Parents... and any Miscreant:

Parents could be unwittingly putting their children's safety and privacy at risk, thanks to security vulnerabilities in potentially millions of kids' GPS-tracker watches.

These cheapo watches are supposed to be worn by the youngsters, and use SIM cards to connect to cellular networks. The idea is they beam to backend servers the GPS-located coordinates of the wearer so their parents can, via a website or app, find out where the tykes are at all times.

The devices also display any messages and take calls from guardians, can listen in on a child's activities using a microphone, and warn if the kid has strayed out of a particular area, such as the playground.

However, an investigation by British security shop Pen Test Partners has shown that the software used by a smartphone app that communicates with the watches is so poorly coded that the connections are easy to hijack. This means miscreants can snoop on kids as if they were their parents.

[...] "We believe that in excess of a million smart kids tracking watches with similar vulnerabilities are being used, possibly in excess of 3 million globally," said researcher Alan Monie on Tuesday. "These are sold under numerous brands, but all appear to use remarkably similar APIs, suggesting a common original device manufacturer or ODM."

martyb writes:

Where you Live Could Influence how Much you Drink:

Where you live could influence how much you drink. According to new research from the University of Pittsburgh Division of Gastroenterology, people living in colder regions with less sunlight drink more alcohol than their warm-weather counterparts.

The study, recently published online in Hepatology, found that as temperature and sunlight hours dropped, alcohol consumption increased. Climate factors also were tied to binge drinking and the prevalence of alcoholic liver disease, one of the main causes of mortality in patients with prolonged excessive alcohol use.

"It's something that everyone has assumed for decades, but no one has scientifically demonstrated it. Why do people in Russia drink so much? Why in Wisconsin? Everybody assumes that's because it's cold," said senior author Ramon Bataller, M.D., Ph.D., chief of hepatology at UPMC, professor of medicine at Pitt, and associate director of the Pittsburgh Liver Research Center. "But we couldn't find a single paper linking climate to alcohol intake or alcoholic cirrhosis. This is the first study that systematically demonstrates that worldwide and in America, in colder areas and areas with less sun, you have more drinking and more alcoholic cirrhosis."

Alcohol is a vasodilator – it increases the flow of warm blood to the skin, which is full of temperature sensors – so drinking can increase feelings of warmth. In Siberia that could be pleasant, but not so much in the Sahara.

Drinking also is linked to depression, which tends to be worse when sunlight is scarce and there's a chill in the air.

Using data from the World Health Organization, the World Meteorological Organization and other large, public data sets, Bataller's group found a clear negative correlation between climate factors – average temperature and sunlight hours – and alcohol consumption, measured as total alcohol intake per capita, percent of the population that drinks alcohol, and the incidence of binge drinking.

The researchers also found evidence that climate contributed to a higher burden of alcoholic liver disease. These trends were true both when comparing across countries around the world and also when comparing across counties within the United States.

Journal Reference
Meritxell Ventura-Cots, Ariel E. Watts, Monica Cruz-Lemini, et. al. Colder weather and fewer sunlight hours increase alcohol consumption and alcoholic cirrhosis worldwide. Hepatology, 2018; DOI: 10.1002/hep.30315

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

In just 12 days, the world gets half of its annual rainfall

Some days are dry, and others are wet. And some are really wet. A new study reveals that any particular place on the globe gets half its annual rainfall—on average—in just 12 days.

For their analysis, the researchers looked at daily rainfall data gathered at 185 sites worldwide from 1999 through 2014. That 16-year period was long enough to capture year-to-year variations in rainfall caused by El Niño and other short-term climate cycles. They also focused on weather stations located within 50° of the equator, which allowed them to use satellite data both to validate their data and to extrapolate their findings to broader regions.

On average, the wettest day at each site received a full month's worth of rain. Also, half of a site's annual precipitation falls over the course of just 12 days, the researchers report this month in Geophysical Research Letters. Which specific days are the wettest varies from place to place and season to season, of course, but the pattern holds worldwide.

Original Submission

From PBS:

The kilogram — anywhere in the world, for any purpose — is based on the exact weight of a golf-ball-sized chunk of platinum and iridium stored under three glass bell jars in a vault in an ornate building outside of Paris. Accessing the vault requires three people with three separate keys and the oversight of the Bureau Internationale des Poids et Mesures, the international organization that oversees the International System of Units.

Despite all of this security, in the 129 years since the International Prototype of the Kilogram was forged, polished and sanctioned as an artifact of measurement, it seems to have lost a tiny amount of material.

[...] On Friday, metrologists — people who study the science of measurements — and representatives from 57 nations will gather in a conference room in Versailles, France to redefine the kilogram. In other words: the way we weigh the world is about to change.

Also at Smithsonian, New Atlas, and Nature.

Related: International Prototype of the Kilogram Soon to Become Obsolete

Original Submission

From New Atlas:

A new study from the Telethon Kids Institute in Australia has revealed a possible association between intellectual disability and some specific forms of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). Experts are urging caution when interpreting these results, as it is unclear exactly what may be causing the increased rates of intellectual disability.

The study tracked over 200,000 live births between 1994 and 2002. A little over one percent of those births were conceived using an ART technique. Overall, the results showed only a small increase in intellectual disability relating to ART (1 in 48 for ART versus 1 in 59 for non-ART). However, a specific technique called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), showed a more significant increase in risk for intellectual disability (1 in 32).

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

New Atlas:

Scientists led by the University of Copenhagen's Centre for GeoGenetics at the Natural History Museum of Denmark have found an ancient meteor crater under the Greenland ice cap that's larger than Paris. Discovered using ground-penetrating radar data gathered by NASA, the possibly three-million-year-old impact crater is 19 mi (31 km) in diameter, about 1,000 ft (305 m) deep, and is buried under 3,200 ft (1,000 m) of glacial ice.

Until now, Greenland was thought to be devoid of impact craters. With its permanent shroud of ever-moving glaciers, the giant island was considered too erosive for any craters to survive for long before being ground away. However, the discovery of the crater under the Hiawatha Glacier shows that not only does the region have impact craters, it also has one of the 25 largest impact craters on Earth.

At last we know the source of the parasite that killed Isaiah's father.

Original Submission

hellcat writes:

A Micron buddy told me about this when the story broke, and I was sure someone would pick it up here. So though it's a bit late, I hope you enjoy it.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday unveiled an indictment against two companies based in China and Taiwan and three individuals, saying they conspired to steal trade secrets from U.S. semiconductor company Micron Technology Inc relating to its research and development of memory storage devices.

The charges against Taiwan-based United Microelectronics Corp, China state-owned Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co Ltd and three individuals who once worked for a unit of Micron mark the fourth case brought by the Justice Department since September as part of a broader crackdown against alleged Chinese espionage on U.S. companies.

Increasing the scary factor was that one guy was a Director at Micron. So he probably had access to far more intel than the average molerat.

Reuters and Engadget, among others.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Mozilla releases privacy report on which holiday gadgets are too creepy

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Mozilla has released a privacy report on some popular gift options, which tells you if a gadget meets basic security standards like encrypting data and offering a clear privacy policy.

While the list isn't comprehensive, it looked at 70 popular items and found that a little over 25 of them meet Mozilla's minimum security standards. The most secure gadgets: the Nintendo Switch, a Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit that mixes wand magic and teaching kids how to code, and an open-source smart speaker called Mycroft Mark 1.

[...] According to Mozilla, the creepiest gadget out there is the FREDI Baby Monitor, which has a history of easily being hacked and a default password of "123" that you're not prompted to change. The FREDI Baby Monitor also lacks a privacy policy, and its company doesn't push out security updates to its devices.

Also at Engadget.

Original Submission

Inadvertent Court Filing Suggests that the U.S. DoJ is Preparing to Indict Julian Assange

takyon writes:

Prosecutors Have Prepared Indictment of Julian Assange, a Filing Reveals

The Justice Department has prepared an indictment against the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, marking a drastic escalation of the government's yearslong battle with him and his anti-secrecy group. It was not clear if prosecutors have filed charges against Mr. Assange. The indictment came to light late Thursday through an unrelated court filing in which prosecutors inadvertently mentioned charges against him. "The court filing was made in error," said Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for the United States attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia. "That was not the intended name for this filing."

[...] Seamus Hughes, a terrorism expert at George Washington University who closely tracks court cases, uncovered the filing and posted it on Twitter.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to say on Thursday what led to the inadvertent disclosure. It was made in a recently unsealed filing in an apparently unrelated sex-crimes case charging a man named Seitu Sulayman Kokayi with coercing and enticing an underage person to engage in unlawful sexual activity. Mr. Kokayi was charged in early August, and on Aug. 22, prosecutors filed a three-page document laying out boilerplate arguments for why his case at that time needed to remain sealed.

While the filing started out referencing Mr. Kokayi, federal prosecutors abruptly switched on its second page to discussing the fact that someone named "Assange" had been secretly indicted, and went on to make clear that this person was the subject of significant publicity, lived abroad and would need to be extradited — suggesting that prosecutors had inadvertently pasted text from a similar court filing into the wrong document and then filed it.

"Another procedure short of sealing will not adequately protect the needs of law enforcement at this time because, due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged," prosecutors wrote. They added, "The complaint, supporting affidavit, and arrest warrant, as well as this motion and the proposed order, would need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested in connection with the charges in the criminal complaint and can therefore no longer evade or avoid arrest and extradition in this matter."

(NOTE: A story was also submitted by mendax.)